The Difference Between Death and Dying
by Black Earrings
Summary: AU VH Thought dead, Folken returns and steals Van's claim to the throne. Van readily marries a neighboring princess,but Folken soon attacks and abandons Fanelia. Now Van and his bride must seek the help of those scorned by all of Gaea before it's too late
1. Past, Present, and Future

Hello, readers. Welcome to my first fanfic. The summary goes like this:

After being thought dead, Folken returns on the day Van is to be crowned king. Both their parents are still alive. I know power isn't usually passed until the death of the former king, but Van is being crowned because that's just the way things work in this particular universe. The changes in Folken seem obvious to Van, but everyone else accuses him of being jealous.

After much tension is created in the household, Van is offered the hand of the Hitomi, a childhood friend and princess of the kingdom Tyrdon. When Folken becomes king of Fanelia, he allies it with Zaibach and attacks Tyrdon. It is then up to Van to stop Zaibach from overthrowing all of Gaea by seeking the help of the cursed Draconians and (in the process) destroying his homeland. **It starts off a year after the events were set in motion.**

This is a AU (alternate universe) fic, which means that I can twist the Escaflowne world any way my imagination desires J

Sorry if anyone seems a little out of character now and then, but it's been a while since I've seen the series.

There will be V/H fluff and maybe a little lime somewhere, hence the M rating (just to be on the safe side.)

Please review! That's your opportunity to tell me how I can fix any major mistakes, make plot suggestions, or anything else.

Disclaimer: Me not own Escaflowne. Not sue.

Chapter 1: Past, Present, and Future

Van awoke with a start from his dream. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of his bed chamber, and a wave of relief washed over him as he realized he his nightmare had been just that¾ a nightmare. He leaned upright on one elbow and used his other hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.

The soft sheets rustled as he turned on his side to gaze at the sleeping form of his wife, glad that he had not woken her from her peaceful slumber. His gaze turned from her momentarily as a cool breeze caressed his face. Van looked up to see that the balcony door had been blown open and the night wind tossed the light curtains playfully. Thin streams of moonlight stole through the folds of fabric and shone down on Hitomi's face.

Looking back at her, he could not help but brush aside a few strands of her soft brown hair that fell across her cheek. _My love, my queen_, he thought. Knowing that he would not be able to join her in sleep again that night, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and stepped onto the cold stone floor. Van began to make his way across the room toward the balcony when he heard a soft moan from behind him. His lips curled in an amused smirk when he looked back at Hitomi to see her toss on their bed and roll onto the spot he had just left, obviously annoyed at the loss of warmth her had caused her.

He moved through the soft barrier of curtains into the humid air and was greeted with the stench of embers and old smoke. Van sat down on the edge of the cracked balcony, careful to search for any new breaks in the stone or sign that it was about to give way. Gazing over what was left of the capital city of his beloved kingdom, the crumbling buildings and ruined streets lighted only by scattered bonfires, he thought back to his dream.

It was the same nightmare that had plagued him for the past few nights: He walked the very streets that he looked upon at this moment, the sun shone brightly and the air was sweet, not yet poisoned with the black arid smoke that choked it now. Suddenly, an invisible enemy attacked, and as quickly as he could blink all that remained of his surroundings was ashes. He dropped to his knees as he felt the coolness of a blade slice once, twice, three times at his back. A sharp blow to the back of the head forced him forward and into the black dirt. As he turned over and looked at the blood-red sky, his brother's face loomed over him.

Folken's voice rang clear amidst the sound of crackling fires and inhuman screams, "Fanelia thanks you." Before Van could open his mouth to speak, he saw the gleam of a sword come down as his brother plunged in into his chest and¾

Van's head snapped up and he was out of his trance. Feeling a sudden twinge of pain in his hand, he realized that he had his fingernails had dug into his palm. When he relaxed his fist, he saw the tiny white half moons he had created turn pink with blood. He heard the source of what had interrupted his flashback of his dream call out to him again.

"Van? Come back to bed," Hitomi's soft voiced floated from the bedroom. A small chuckle escaped Van's throat as he made his way back to her. _She wasn't worried that I had left the room at all. She knows me too well,_ he thought while he pushed the curtains aside once again. He caught his breath when he saw Hitomi sitting up in the bed they shared, waiting for him to return to her side. He must have been staring for too long because she pouted her lips a little and raised her arms out to him, becoming him to continue toward her.

Van needed no more convincing. He crawled beneath the sheets and wasted no time encircling her slender frame in his muscular arms. Her cheek rested against his chest as she began to speak.

"Van, what were you doing out there again?"

He knew better than to answer this question truthfully. As much as it pained him to lie to her, he was sure that Hitomi would worry herself sick if he told her about the reoccurring dream. About the dream in which he had been reliving the destruction of their home for almost two weeks. About the dream that foretold his death at the hands of his own brother.

"I couldn't sleep. I took a small regiment into the city to give aid to the remaining citizens. The smoke just must have gotten to me," he said, praying that she would be satisfied.

"Yeah, it must have," she said obviously not believing him. "Must have," she repeated, "seven hours ago…"

Van kissed her forehead and stoked his fingers lightly up and down her arm, knowing that she would be asleep in no time, wishing that he could be with her away from here, away from the carnage that had destroyed their home and the home of so many others. People he had sworn to protect and honor as he had sword to protect and honor Hitomi when he married her. When he had married this country. Tyrdon. Before he had known that he would be betrayed by his most hated enemy and greatest ally¾ Fanelia.

One year before

The sharp click of boots on stone floors echoed clearly through the halls of the Fanelian castle. Their resounding beat met no ears, though, for all living within the city were at the coronation of the crowned prince. The ceremony was well underway as the weary stranger made his way through the maze of corridors, seeking the main balcony where the ritual was preformed before the entire city. He cared not about his disheveled appearance: his tattered cloak, the stubble on his chin, and worn tunic, which was stained with a combination of dirt, sweat, and blood.

He came upon the entrance to the veranda, he was greeted by several guards.

"Holt. None may pass here. Turn back or be arrested," said one particularly official looking soldier.

"I don't have _time_ for this!" the stranger rang out with a frustrated cry, more to himself than those who stood between him and his destiny. He unsheathed his sword and took down the guard with one felt swoop. Two more replaced the man he had just defeated, though they were obviously less eager to spar with him. _Or just less stupid_, the stranger thought.

He disposed of them just as quickly, though he left them unconscious rather than dead. He could manage one murder, but having three men's blood on his hands so soon could very well overshadow the full effect of his return.

As he burst through the heavy curtain, he was hit with the deafening roar of the crowd. The bright light of the noon day sun pounded down on him with unexpected strength. He began to see light red and green spots obstruct his vision as he struggled to see the shocked faces of those he had found. He stared forward and looked into the eyes of his brother, clad in the ceremonial garb which would have looked noble and serious if not for the look of absolute disbelief on his face.

The stranger began to feel dizzy and lightheaded, his balance diluted. He turned his head and looked upon the woman he guessed was his mother, her beauty hidden beneath a visage of worry and astonishment. She rushed to embrace him as he stumbled slightly and felt a sickness rise in the pit of his stomach. _What is happening to me? _he thought.

"My son! You're alive! You've returned to me, my son! Oh, Folken, how I've missed you so," she cried, showing emotion that any practiced member of court would have frowned upon.

She never cared what they thought of her. Of us, the stranger thought absently. He pulled back from her, his head swimming. Her tear-stained cheeks were the last thing he saw before he hit the floor and lost consciousness.

So…whatcha think? Too much description? Not enough action? wink hehe The more you review and let me know what you want to read, the better for you! If you don't like to review, please take some time to use my number system. It takes two seconds and you only have to hit the keyboard once.

1 - boring, I'm not going to read it anymore

2 - kind of interesting, but still boring

3 - king of interesting, I'll keep reading

4 - interesting, I'll keep reading

5 - interesting, I'd really like you to continue

6 - very interesting, I'd love for you to continue! J


	2. Beginning of the End

Hello again! Black Earrings here! I'm back with a new chapter, as you can see.

First, thank you to my first reviewers: mysisterisasquijum, the anonymous person I will refer to as "my friend Steve," Xanthia Nightshade, and Inda! You are all super mega ultra cool in my book.

This chapter is really, _really_ long. I was debating on whether to make it into two separate chapter, but I ended up leaving it as is because I feel the two smaller chapters would be boring.

Now, Hitomi in this story has a _very _extensive family! I'm putting up her family tree right now in hopes of making the parts where her family is all together a little less confusing. Her father, Emries, has had two wives before Hitomi's mother (Aunica). The ages are at the time of Folken's return. To get the age of everyone at the time of a flashback, subtract ten years.

**Emries of Tyrdon (Hitomi's father) (45)**

Dione of Elpis (1st wife - divorced)**--> **Deruca (25) and Demerit (22)

Elara (2nd wife - died during childbirth) -->Rohan (20) and Flora, Fauna (17)

Aunica (35) (3rd wife)--> Hitomi (15) and Rubious (10)

I hope this makes things clearer rather than more confusing. If you have any questions, just put them in your review with your email and I'll be glad to get back to you. Remember to please let me know about any major mistakes or anything in specific you'd like to see. **If you don't like reviewing, feel free to use the number system at the end of the chapter. It just takes one punch of the keyboard.**

The chapter picks up right where the first one left off. Enjoy (and review)!

Discalmer: Me not own Escaflowne. Not sue.

* * *

Van sat on his bed alone in his room, legs pulled up to his chest, chin resting on his knees. The last thing he wanted was to be alone right now, but all the councilmen insisted that was exactly what he needed. Van needed time to himself to think. He was still trying to process what had happened during the coronation ceremony.

He had been standing before the people of Fanelia, ready to take his vows of loyalty and honor, when an intruder had burst onto the platform. His mother had called him Folken. Then the intruder had passed out. There was so much confusion that the ceremony had been canceled¾ something that hadn't happened before in the entire history of his country.

Things were little better even after the intruder had been taken to a sick room to be tended to. The healer Domnu-Agi, who was usually employed by the royal family, was gone for the entirety of the month. His daughter in Tyrdon had taken ill after she gave birth to her first child, and the queen had insisted he take leave. The man who replaced Domnu-Agi was called Shea and was little more than a novice healer apprentice. He had yet to even diagnose what ailed the stranger. Van had never been particularly fond of Shea. He had been chosen as Domnu-Agi's successor at the elder's request, though only the gods know why.

What truly irked Van, though, was the fact that the healer would not be able to tell if the man who had caused the great commotion was actually Folken because he was not only a foreigner, but decidedly too young to have ever seen Folken before he disappeared all those years ago. Shea could hardly have been older than Van by his own estimates. The bold-haired, blue-eyed healer was still intimidated by his new lifestyle of royalty and grandeur, something that could prove fatal if he became too scared to perform his job in the case of any serious injury. That proved to be the folly of the healer who preceded Domnu-Agi. When a courtier's son had fallen from his horse, the healer was more focused on respecting the rules of court etiquette than saving the boy. He stubbornly (or rather, stupidly) refused to remove the boy's clothing himself. The time wasted on getting the proper attendants for the job caused so much blood loss that the boy did not survive the surgery.

Turning his thoughts from the idiot Shea, Van continued to worry. Because no one knew where the intruder came from, no one was allowed to see him until the healer was sure that his fainting spell was not caused by any contagious disease. That had not stopped Vari from keeping a vidual outside his door, despite pleads from her husband, Van, councilmen, and various courtiers to at least rest in her chambers until the healer said it was safe for the intruder to been seen. Vari walked back and forth in front of the sick room door at a frantic pace, as though wearing a hollow in the floor would make the inexperienced doctor work faster.

Van was still troubled by her attachment to the intruder. She had clung to him on the balcony. Even as he fell to the ground, Vari had not released him form her embrace. The small bruises on her thigh were testimony to that. For a moment, he thought the man he saw was Folken, too.

In all reality, part of him wanted the stranger to be Folken, as well. His brother's disappearance meant not only the loss of the crowned price of the people, but the loss of Van's guardian and best friend. It had left a deep scar on his heart caused by the loneliness that set in once he realized that Folken was never coming back. He recalled clearly when the moment was that he finally was able to grasp the idea that he had lost his beloved brother forever.

He had been playing by himself at the edge of the forest while his nanny, the young Amidela, kept a watchful eye out for any sign that something was amiss. He could not have been more than five of six years old at the time. As the day wore on and sun began to set, the chill in the air prompted his nurse to call for him to return to the castle. Van refused to leave, repeating over and over to her that they could not leave before Folken came out of the forest, that Folken would be scared and get lost they left without him, and how angry his mother and father would be if they knew that they had not waited for his brother to emerge from deep maze of oaks and pines before going back.

As he argued with Amidela, the sky turned darker and darker shades of blue, and she became apprehensive. Insects began their eerie chirps and pack animals began to howl at the moon and its mystic sister. Long shadows reached out from the trees, and Amidela become more and more desperate to depart to the safety of the castle grounds. She coaxed, bargained with, and threatened the young prince, but the more she pleaded with Van to go home, the more determined he became to stay. He threw himself to the ground and began to cry out for his brother.

The frightened nurse knew not what to do. Van had never acted so erratically before. Despite his youth, he had always been calm and reasonable. Patient as she tried to be, Amidela reached her breaking point when Van bit her as she tried to lift him from the ground, resolved to drag him kicking and screaming to his chambers. She pulled back her hand and slapped his soundly across his cheek.

"_Shut up, Van! _Now, you listen to me, and you listen well," she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in close. "Folken is _not _coming out of those woods because he is _dead_! He disappeared _months_ ago, and he his _not_ coming out of that forest just because you say he is!"

Quiet followed as silent tears rolled down Van's face. Amidela pulled back and gasped at her behavior, tears prickling the corners of her own eyes as she thought back to her frustrated cruelty. She knelt down at Van's side and wrapped her arms around him, feeling a twinge of pain in her heart when he did not return her embrace.

"He's gone, Van. I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault, but there's nothing you can do to change that," she said in a near whisper. She took his hand, and he didn't resist. He let her lead him back to the castle and to his chambers. He let her undress him and comb his hair. His mother no longer performed their ritual of a story and a goodnight kiss because she cried herself to sleep on any given night. He let Amidela tuck him into the sheets and sing him a lullaby. He even let her kiss his forehead. He shut his eyes and never call out for Folken again.

Now, almost ten years later, here it seemed Amidela could be wrong after all. Looking back again, however, it no longer seemed possible that the intruder was his brother, returned after a mysterious absence. He resembled Folken, that was true, but his build was too ridged, Van reasoned. Aside from his strange militant garb, the most striking feature about the intruder was his eyes. His eyes did not reflect the gentle strength his brother's had. They shone like orbs of winter ice: cold, hard, and emotionless. His eyes showed no vehemence, but they conveyed the message "keep away" none the less. Below his right eye was what looked like a tear drop tattoo. Van took this as a symbol of suffering the intruder experienced in the past. _But to suffer, must one not be alive? _Van though. _No. This cannot be my brother. __My brother is dead._

It was nearly midnight when his mother's maidservant knocked meekly on Van's door, probably scared of waking him. He hadn't even entertained the thought of sleep since the earlier events, spending the long hours since turning various theories about the intruder's origins and identity over in his head.

"Enter," Van said with practiced arrogance. _You must tell people you are in control with every word you speak: rule number one in king school._

Staring up at the ceiling from his bed, he heard the door creak and turned to see the brunette middle-aged woman peered in through the opening she created.

"Their majesties King Goau and Queen Vari request your presence in the sick chamber of his royal highness Prince Folken," Brinheld said as she entered the room and curtsied. The flames of the fire place reviled her disheveled appearance: Her cheeks were flushed and loose strands of hair formed a halo atop her round face. The hems of her usually stiff skirts were wrinkled and dusty from being dragged. She had obviously been in quite a rush to fetch him.

Van's heart skipped a beat at her words. _Prince Folken_, she had said.

Van leapt from his bed and began making quick, long strides toward the hospital wing of the castle. He was in a near sprint by the time he reached the door, Brinheld only a few breathless steps behind him. All the while, his heart sped up until it threatened to explode in his chest. He reached for the door. His breaths came in openmouthed gasps now, and he could feel the clamminess of his hands as he pushed open the heavy barrier.

Light spilled into the dark hallway from the room, and his eyes overlooked each person as they appeared before him. Shea stood at the far end of the room, looking excitedly at Van as he took a step forward. Next was Balgus, his teacher and father's most trusted advisor. His face was expressionless, which caused a sinking feeling in the pit of Van's stomach. He gave an encouraging nod, and Van continued into the room.

He pushed the door open all the way, and his heart nearly leapt into his throat at what he saw. There his father sat at the bedside, a small candle lit up his visage of joy. He looked up at Van and crossed the room to him. Wordlessly, he embraced Van and guided him to the bed. There sat the intruder, sleeping, head cradled in his mother's lap, her fingers running through his sweat-dampened hair. Van could see in the flickering light of the chamber that it was his brother, only older and more weathered. He looked as though he slept through an troubling dream, his brow and mouth furrowed with a scowl and fists clenching the sheets at intervals.

Despite his brother's obvious discomfort, Vari looked up at Van with a dazzling smile. Her face was one someone would expect to see on a young woman who had just been told she was with child: fulfilled and eager at the same time. She _did_ seemed younger somehow. As though Folken's return canceled out all the grief and pain it had caused. She shone with a light he had not seen in nearly ten years.

She raised one finger to her lips and shushed him, though he had yet to speak a word.

"He sleeps," she whispered as a woman might whisper in the presence of her newborn child. "Look, Van," she continued while looking back down at Folken. "Your brother's come back to us. I knew he would."

She placed a gentle kiss on Folken's forehead, causing him to moan and shift in irritation. Silence followed. _No cheers of rejoice at the lost prince's return, _Van thought to himself. _No bells ringing out to spread the good news throughout the kingdom. No bottles of wine opened, no feasts ordered, no invitations sent out to neighboring kings to tell of his miraculous reappearance. Only a woman cradling her undead son as he sleeps, probably trying to escape back to where he had come from._

This was not as Van had expected it to be. It was nothing like the dreams he had envisioned of his brother's return. He was not filled with a sense of joy an relief, only resounding dread that pooled in the pit of his stomach. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet at the deafening silence continued, as loud and clear as the mourning bells that rang out ten years ago.

What is going to happen now? he thought, pondering the same question as the rest of the castle would for the remainder of the night.

Princess Hitomi Kanzaki of Tyrdon, Countess of Deruca, daughter of King Emries and Queen Aunica of Tyrdon, sat at her vanity dresser, reading and rereading the invitation she had been given that morning. She held the delicate paper in her hands, still in disbelief.

Her royal majesty Princess Hitomi Kanzaki of Tyrdon, Countess of Deruca, daughter

of King Emries and Queen Aunica of Tyrdon is invited to join their royal majesties King

Goau Fanel and Queen Vari Fanel of Fanelia along with their sons Crowned Prince

Folken Lacour de Fanel and Price Van Slanzar de Fanel at a royal ball to celebrate the

long awaited return of his royal majesty Crowned Prince Folken…

Once she had filtered out all the pompous vocabulary and realized exactly what the invitation said, she was unable to move. _How could this be? Has Folken really returned? Was this some sort of cruel joke? Am I awake?_

But there was no mistaking it. The seal on the envelope was the royal crest of the Fanelian family. This invitation was as serious. Folken had returned. She exhaled deeply and let the paper fall on her lap. She stared about her room absently for a while, her bright green eyes following the familiar patterns and textures of her chamber.

She began to think back to the time when she had first met Folken. It had been during the departure celebration when thrown for him before he ventured off in search of a drag energist to earn his right as king. Her entire family had journeyed to Fanelia over land, and that had not been a pleasant experience. There were six children in the Kanzaki royal family at the time, and her mother was pregnant with her younger brother.

Hitomi's mother had been a priestess before marrying King Emries, and though she had been trained to have the patience of a saint, the eighteen hours in a hot carriage on bumpy old country roads with several noisy children drove Aunica to use her powers to make herself deaf. They reached their destination in one piece, though, the first of those invited to arrive. Hitomi remembered the following events in near-perfect detail. The door to the carriage opened, first allowing her mother to escape the humid cage and breathe in fresh air. Then it was her turn.

She stood at the carriage door, not yet tall enough to require slouching to move in and out, blinded by the bright afternoon sun. She took the manservant's hand and stepped onto the ground as her eyes adjusted to the light. Before her stood what she believed to be the very picture of royal perfection. Her father, who had been in a carriage ahead of the one she shared with her mother and brother, grasped hands with the man she assumed to be King Gaou. Moving down the line, Emries did the same with a tall, lanky boy of about fifteen and ruffled the already unruly hair of a small boy who attempted to loosen the collar of his tunic while fending off the playful battering of her father.

Behind the young boy she had concluded to be Prince Van was the only woman Hitomi ever believed to as beautiful as her own mother. Queen Vari had visited Aunica in Tyrodon when she had first learned of her pregnancy. She had cared for the expecting mother with several herbal teas she claimed would ensure a healthy child at birth. Not only that, unlike the stiff woman courtiers, Vari had been kind to Hitomi and even used her powers to entertain the young girl with smoke illusions and various glamour charms. Hitomi grew fond of the queen and begged her to stay as one of her ladies-in-waiting, not understanding that Vari was not merely a medicine woman, but in fact a ruler just as powerful as her own mother.

Forgetting her training in etiquette, Hitomi bounded past her father and embraced Vari, her head barely reaching the woman's waist. She could hear the disgusted gasp of her eldest sister Demerit, who prided herself in her over saturated understanding of "proper way to act" for a girl. The Fanelian queen, who cared little for court rules on behavior, saw nothing wrong in Hitomi's enthusiastic display of affection and returned the gentle hold.

As the two families made their way to the veranda to discuss the Kanzai's trip, other arrangements for the ball, and various pleasantries, Hitomi scoffed when Demerit took Folken's arm. It seemed to her that her sister's only goal in life was to achieve the stereotypical end that the court taught girls was their destiny: marry a wealthy man, have a dozen children, and fade quietly into the shadow of their husbands. How someone could ever be satisfied with a life like that was something Hitomi could never understand.

As they continued to walk to the garden, Hitomi watched her sister prance merrily by Folken's side, leading her to assume that Folken was the kind of man who _wanted_ a woman who would be his property. He caught her staring at him with her disapproving scowl and quickly flashed her a knowing smile, amusement shining through his young eyes. Hitomi could not help but smile back, her dark spirits lifted knowing that Demerit was probably the only one there who nurtured the superficial dreams of "duty to the court."

With the memory of the young prince ended, Hitomi sprang up suddenly, desperate for someone to discuss the invitation with. As she raced to her sisters' quarters, her waist length hair struggled to keep up with her. The patter of her bare feet mixed with the fluttering of her light skirts were the only sound in the hall. Her pink pendent bounced from side to side with every stride. She skidded into her twin sisters', Flora and Fauna, door with loud bang.

"Flauna! Flauna! Open the door!" she pounded frantically with her open palm. Her half-sisters were the daughters of her father's second wife and were often referred to by the contraction "Flauna" because they were rarely apart.

After several minutes, Hitomi gave up. Not wanting to waste time on any more empty chambers, she ran to where she was sure to find someone¾ the privet clearing at the fountain. Only members of the royal family and their guests were allowed there, and the privacy was something that they often took advantage of.

She picked up her speed as she neared her destination, narrowly avoiding several servants and laundresses in the process. As she raced along the covered outside walkway that signaled the she was there, she bumped into Ambrese, her brother Deruca's manservant, and landed on her rear with a thump.

He regained his composure first, and stood at her side with an outreached hand. Hitomi took his firm grasp, surprisingly strong despite his age, and stood up while dusting off her dress.

"You run as though being chased by a demon, majesty. Why such haste?" he asked concern, combing his white hair with his fingers. Knowing him to be a superstitious person, Hitomi understood him to be perfectly serious when he asked about a demon.

"Did Deruca tell you anything about an invitation to Fanelia?" she asked with hesitation.

Ambrese chuckled, causing Hitomi to feel a little annoyed at his seeming jovial mood toward what she considered a very urgent matter. Her face must have showed it because he sobered up at once and replied with court formality, "Your brother Prince Deruca, along with the other existing members of the immediate royal family, received similar invitations this morning. They are discussing the matter now at the Garden Fountain."

Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief knowing that her family was all in one place.

"Thank you _so_ much, Ambrese!" she exclaimed. Placing a quick kiss of gratitude on his cheek, she continued to jog in the direction of the fountain.

"It is my honor to be at your service, majesty," he said, the princess already more than a few feet away from him. He shook his head and grinned as she watched her bound off. _Such innocence_, he thought fondly and continued on to make the arrangement needed for a royal litter to travel across the country.

* * *

So…? Whatcha think? Too long? Too much description? Let me know!

1 - boring, I'm not going to read it anymore

2 - kind of interesting, but still boring

3 - king of interesting, I'll keep reading

4 - interesting, I'll keep reading

5 - interesting, I'd really like you to continue

6 - very interesting, I'd love for you to continue!


	3. Suffer the Child

OK, I'm back. Here's the thing: while working on this chapter, I left the computer on without saving cuz I thought it'd be fine, but my evil sister closed it and about half of it was lost! NOOO! So I had to rewrite it. I apologize in advance cuz I rushed a little to get it out faster and it shows in the later part of this chapter.

Another thing: I'm going out of town this Sunday, so I won't be updating for about two weeks after that, give of take a few days. I'll try to update again before that, but I can't promise, unless you don't mind a shorter chapter. Don't be too upset, though. I'll be on the road with plenty of time to brainstorm for more chapters. Yay!

Please review! That's your opportunity to tell me how I can fix any major mistakes, make plot suggestions, or anything else. As always, feel free to use the number system:

Also, let me know how you feel about a shorter (but faster) update before I leave.

Thanks to MochaExpress, my newest reviewer.

Disclaimer: Me not own Escaflowne. Not sue.

Now, time to enjoy!

* * *

In the private Tyrdonian gardens, beneath an ancient Bruñel tree, gathered the members of the royal Kanzaki family. A stone table rested directly under the shade, around which the king, queen, and their two oldest children were seated. The queen rested her head on the palm of her hand, looking back and forth from King Emries to Prince Deruca with interest as they. Princess Demerit hardly made an effort to disguise her boredom, looking around absently and sighing from time to time while cooling herself with a fan too extravagant for such a casual setting. Despite her efforts to counteract the heat and humidity, strands of her golden locks stuck to the nape of her neck.

Meanwhile, the remaining children splashed noisily in a large fountain. The sculpture in the center depicted two winged women holding the clay pots from which the water flowed. The twins Flora and Fauna sat in the shadow of the tall statue, giggling and periodically whispering in each other's ear. Their long red hair was matted against their backs, swirling like seaweed when it touched water. Though neither of the girls had many friends outside of relatives and servants, they were perfectly content with getting lost in their own little twin world. That was probably why they still seemed to be so young: they had little influence from people their own age.

Emries often said that he would have to separate them if he ever wished them to marry because no child would grow up if they always had their favorite playmate around. _A child alone will too soon be grown while two or three by the way will, young, children stay, _he would say whenever he threatened to move Flauna into separate bedrooms, sent to different finishing schools, or anything else that would require the seventeen-year-olds to be separated.

Hitomi entered the clearing just in time to see her younger brother Rubious sneak up behind the twins and pour a handful of dirt on each identical head.

"Ahhh! RUBIOUS! I'll kill you!" Flora screamed. She bounded out of the water toward her half-brother, who was rolling on the ground while clutching his sides, his high-pitched laughter filling the air.

The ten-year-old boy stole out of the furious red-head's grasp before she could exact her terrible revenge. As he scampered off to Hitomi's side, Flora turned back to her distraught sister and began helping Fauna groom the dirt from her long crimson strands.

"Hitomi! Where have you been? Father was just about to send a search party to find you," Rubious said, hugging his sister around the waist.

"I was in my room, silly. Why didn't anyone come for me earlier?" Hitomi replied, ruffling his already unruly chestnut hair.

"Because you sleep like the dead, sister!" he sprinted off back to the stone table.

"Hey! Get back over here!" Hitomi yelled after him, green eyes flashing mischievously. She slowed as the shade of the Bruñel tree reached out to shelter her from the beating noonday sun. It's crimson leaves were broad and new, shedding a tinted red glow onto the garden floor as the light shone through its ruby foliage. The snow-white bark was in deep contrast with those who were seated under its shadow, the four adults all wearing brightly colored robes. Hitomi knew by their casual garb that there would be no weary visits to the court this day. _Thank the gods for that. It's much to hot to be out,_ she thought.

As she approached, she saw that Rubious had made himself comfortable on their mother's lap. Emries worried that Aunica was coddling the boy, but Hitomi wasn't concerned. Her mother had looked into her son's future, something she did on extremely rare occasions, had seen Rubious as a great warrior. She did not tell anyone but Hitomi what she had seen because it was widely believed that the power to see into the future was one of the most dangerous powers anyone who wielded magic could invoke. She did, however, use her knowledge of Rubious' destiny to appease Emries. It was Aunica who saw Hitomi drawing near.

"Hitomi, darling, at last you resolve to grace us with your presence," she smiled warmly.

"Sorry, mother. I did not sleep well," Hitomi stood beside Aunica and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"She probably fell asleep on the roof of the Tower again," Demerit spat out snootily. She flipped her perfect golden hair and fanned the other side of her neck. "Really, Hitomi, you might as well just join the gypsy clan if you're going to insist on living like one of those heathens."

The eldest princess referred to a band of nomads that had come to Tyrdon to trade only a few days before. They had made their camp just outside the palace walls. Many feared their presence would bring out other "riff-raff" and drifters, but they had done nothing but provide good business for the local merchants.

The other glared back. "Maybe I should, sister. I already prefer their company to yours."

An uproar of voices followed with Hitomi and Demerit hurling various insults while Rubious egged them on, Aunica and Deruca trying to appease the girls' anger, Emries threatening to lock the girls in their rooms for the rest of the day, and Flauna pleading with him to have mercy on Hitomi. Could he not see that Demerit had spoken the first unkind words and, in doing so, had caused their favorite sister to only defend her integrity?

"SILENCE! I command silence at once, you horde of banshees!"

All but Deruca lowered their heads and murmured "Yes, my lord." in procession.

Emries motioned for Deruca to join him in rising to his feet. His son's tall frame met the king's height, delicate rays of light glittered like new gold threw his spiky blond hair. He spoke for his father.

"All of you, return to your quarters and make ready for the mid-day meal at once," his rich voice seemed to fit perfectly with the air of calm that had returned to garden.

Hitomi lifted her head slightly, always anxious to see her usually serene brother crack his iron whip, or however that expression went. It was always exciting to see gentle Deruca, who many felt would be to soft to rule over the country, act like a king. _Never miss a chance to practice for the real thing, do you? _she thought.

He continued, "We have been invited to dine with the Elders of the sojourners' clan. We have accepted and leave to be received by them in one hour's time. Carry on."

What! We're going out? In this heat! Hitomi thought. _Just when a girl thinks she's gonna catch a break…_

Hitomi thought. 

"Yes, my lord," they responded again and made their way to make ready.

Flauna were the first to bound off to their room. Demerit shoved past Hitomi and glared back at her as she made her way alone to the shelter of the covered walkway. Hitomi glared daggers at her when she turned away. The tension she felt in her muscles relaxed slightly when she felt her mother lock arms with her and Rubious fall in step beside her. Though an inch or so taller than her daughter, Aunica rested her head on Hitomi's shoulder as they walked, showing playful affection that few ladies of the court gave to anything but imported silk or a finely cut diamond.

"Darling, why do you quarrel with Demerit? It's not ladylike, and you know it vexes your father so to see his children at odds," she cooed gently.

Hitomi sighed as they entered under the shady sidewalk and continued toward the living quarters.

"Mother, I try not to, but she makes it so hard to keep quiet. Why doesn't father say anything to her?"

"He does, darling. When no one else is near, he implores her to 'hold her serpent's tongue.' She says that she will each time, but his talks seem to make little difference."

"Then why doesn't he punish her? He always takes away my horse or tell my tutor to give me twice as much work."

"He takes from her the same way he takes from you. Did you notice her fan? It is her favorite one she uses at festivals and weddings and such gatherings. He took it from her the last time she provoked you. Why else did you think she used it though there was no one to admire it?"

"She said it was out of style. That's why she didn't take it when we first went to greet the gypsy caravan."

"She deceive you, my little one. It was locked away in my bureau for nearly two weeks after it was given over to your father."

Hitomi sighed. _If talking and punishment aren't going to keep Demerit off my back, then what will?_

"Why don't you say something to her, mother. You were always the best at settling arguments between Flauna," Rubious chimed in.

It was true. Though the twins rarely fought, there was little anyone could do to calm their tempers when a clash ensued. Aunica had been an exception. She had a way of playing mediator that caused Flora and Fauna both to want to yield to the other's demands and make amends.

Hitomi secretly suspected that she used the magic she had learned as a priestess to strengthen their bond. Twins were exalted as a single powerful soul manifested in two bodies by the worshipers at Viridian temple where Aunica had been taught. She no doubt felt greatly honored to play Flauna's mother and would to anything to prevent a separation between them.

Hitomi turned back to Aunica when she heard her speak.

"I _would_ try to speak with her myself if I thought it would do any good, but Demerit is a grown woman and has no use for another mother."

"Then why not approach her woman to woman?" Hitomi suggested.

Now it was Aunica who sighed. "This is a very complicated thing you ask of me. You see, children, when Flauna's mother died, it was widely thought that your father had decided he could not bare to lose another wife some day and had resolved never to marry again. If that had been so, then Demerit would have been selected to become queen. She would have had all the power of a ruler without having to give up her freedom by marrying. Demerit sees me not as a mother figure, my darlings, but as a victorious rival of sorts. Do you understand?"

The trio turned the last corner that stood between them and their mother's privet chambers. As they approached, both children stayed quiet while trying to understand what their mother had just said. Did their sister truly believe that their mother had cost her the crown?

They entered the room to find a string of lit candles around the large vanity mirror that stood against the opposite wall. A servant appeared from the adjoining room and curtsied.

"Could you fetch the prince and princess clothes to match the gowned I will be wearing to greet the gypsy king, dear?" Aunica said gently to the woman. Though obviously a few years older that her, she treated the servant woman as though she were a child doing her a small favor. When asked why she did this, Aunica often told whoever had inquired because she had knowledge of things that no one person could see in a lifetime and therefore was a much older soul than they.

"Yes, m'lady," the woman made her exit and left Aunica, Hitomi, and Rubious to themselves.

The sibling immediately plopped down on the large goose-down bed. The fluffy white sheets never seemed to be less than dazzling white. Though the queen usually shared a bed with the king, she slept in her privet rooms whenever he was away on "matters of diplomatic urgency" as he called them or stayed with his councilmen for days and days during times of grave importance.

"It just gets so lonely in that great big room when your father's away. I don't feel so alone in this cozy little habitat," she had told them with a smile. She loved calling that particular room a "habitat." She said it made her feel more like she was just one of the gods' simple creatures.

Hitomi stared up at the mural on the ceiling Rubious snuggled into one of the large pillows. Tracing over the numerous flowers and vines of the garden scenes with her eyes, she listened to the sound of rustling fabric as her mother disrobed and put on the dress draped over the slim mannequin that stood beside the covered window.

She thought back to her sister's obvious disgust for her. Yes, she had known Demerit had never liked her. She had not known, however, the reason why or that her dislike stretched to her mother as well. What her mother said had made sense. When Aunica became queen, it meant that Demerit was from then on doomed to wander about the castle with no purpose other than to make herself pretty so that their father could marry her off and ally Tyrdon with whatever country she was promised to. Otherwise, she could have been the most powerful woman in the land and have stood a chance at being one of the few women who were truly respected and revered. Now, she believed that Aunica had stolen that chance from her, and Hitomi and Rubious were a constant reminder of that reality.

Hitomi continued to think about the origins of Demerit's hatred. What had happened to her mother, Dione of Elpis? Her marriage to Emries had been arranged. Though both tried, the pair never became more to each other than familiar strangers. Dione took a lover after a time, and Emries had been kind enough to simply divorce her, letting her shame be her most severe punishment. Neither Deruca or Demerit looked anything like Emries, causing many to say that they were children of her lover. However, Emries often said rather proudly that they had simply inherited their mother's beauty and all his charms.

But what had become of Dione? Had she gone back to Elpis after that? Would she be invited to Demerit's wedding someday? Hitomi couldn't remember a single time where Dione was present. She thought she might catch a glimpse of the infamous lady when Demerit was engaged to the Duke of Weiss for a short time. Unfortunately, the Duke had been quite elderly and in bad health. He died only a few months into the engagement, much to Demerit's relief, and any chance of Dione resurfacing was gone again.

So what _did_ happen to adulteresses?

Hitomi turned on her side and rested her head in the palm of her hand.

"Mother, what happens to adulteresses?"

Aunica sat at her vanity. She finished adjusting her emerald-studded broach, her only piece of jewelry aside from her wedding ring, and picked up an ivory hair brush.

"As far as I know, they are sent to temples and convents to atone for their sins and spend the rest of their lives in the servitude of the gods. Well, the ones who aren't executed, any way. Why do you ask such grave questions, little one?"

Hitomi returned to her former position.

"Just curious, I guess. What would happen to her children?"

Her mother fixed the last of several hair pins in place and stood, her form graceful as she crossed to room toward her daughter.

"I imagine she would never see them again if she lived. They would become illegitimate and…simply have no place in society. Who would want bastards? Oh, I don't want to think about it," she shook herself as if to shake the thought from her mind. "What an awful thing for children to have to suffer."

She sat next to Hitomi and combed her hair with her fingers. Aunica's green eyes shone with tears. Hitomi reached up and pulled her mother in for a hug.

"I'm sorry, dear. It's just this talk of children and adultery. I could never do anything to put you or Rubious in danger of such a retched fate."

She pulled back from Hitomi's shoulder.

"The ladies-in-waiting will be here any minute with your clothes. Let's brace ourselves for them, shall we?

Hitomi laughed half-heartedly. The ladies-in-waiting were little more than gossiping hens, her father always said. Their mindless chatter was a refreshing break, however, from the seriousness of her daily routine.

She let her grim thoughts slip from her mind. She pictured it as sand falling through the tight grip of her fist.

"Mother, about the invitation to Fanelia, I was wondering¾ "

"Hush about that for now. Your father wants to talk to you about that tomorrow morning. You are to read his cards at sunrise, when the spirits are most active."

Hitomi knew how to read Tarot, a tradition passed on from her mother's side of the family. She often only did so for bored servants or as a party trick for court ladies. Her father had never taken it too seriously and certainly never asked her to read them for him. Any time he felt the need for magic counseling, he asked her mother. Hitomi cast a worried glance at Aunica.

"It's not what you think, darling. He wants to know about the journey we are to make to Fanelia. You can never be too careful."

Her shoulders relaxed. _He only wants me to warn him about anything that will go wrong on the trip over there. Probably nothing more than a broken carriage wheel or lame horse._

"Mother, where was Rohan?" she turned back to Aunica. Hitomi realized that the usually rambunctious youth had been nowhere to be seen at the garden. _He would have defended me against Demerit's assault._

Her mother rose and stood next to the window, preparing for the onslaught of "gossiping hens."

"The gypsy king has a daughter," she said with a knowing smile.

Hitomi smiled back. Before she could open her mouth again, the room was filled clucking women, all ready to play dress up with their favorite green-eyed princess.

* * *

1 - boring, I'm not going to read it anymore

2 - kind of interesting, but still boring

3 - king of interesting, I'll keep reading

4 - interesting, I'll keep reading

5 - interesting, I'd really like you to continue

6 - very interesting, I'd love for you to continue! J


	4. Coming Together

I'll update again after I get five reviews, just to give myself a little more time. It's not done, but it still makes sense. Enjoy (and review)!

Van sat silently as his mother struggled to make polite conversation. She continued by asking Folken about his endeavors for the day. He replied curtly that he had spent the majority of his time in the library and did not offer to carry on with any detail. When she finally gave up, only the clinking of glass and silver against fine tableware filled the void left by the absence of discussion. Even Gaou, never at a loss for words for those he loved, was quiet. The mood was as dark as the black sky that loomed outside the castle.

__

Why does she even try? She knows that no one is going to say anything. Van struggled to look up from his plate at his mother. Across the table, he saw her weary visage through the flickering light of the elegant candles. Folken had returned nearly a month ago, and she had taken the liberty of arranging private family dinners at every chance. Vari was determined not to loose a single moment that could be spent in the presence of her children and husband.

These dinners were actually the only times Van saw Folken. His brother spent much of his time alone, usually claming study in the library or meditation in the garden. What he studied, no one knew. Where exactly in the gardens he sat reflecting on what he had learned was a mystery as well. As were the precise times when he rose from his chambers or went to sleep. None of the servants could say they had ever seen his walk through his bedroom doors. He just sort of existed, much like the way the air around the castle or lands that Van could not see existed.

Folken had changed, though Van could not say exactly how. He seemed almost like a stranger. As strange as he was when he first reappeared. It was natural for people to change as they grew, but did they not retain some part that made them familiar to those who knew them? Or did they become someone else entirely?

Vari, along with Shea and later Domnu-Agi, believed that it had been the trauma of his life after being lost that had caused his dramatic shift in personality. Folken told them the story of his disappearance: how he had followed the dragon he hunted into its lair. How it trapped him and attacked without mercy. How he had been discovered half-alive by gypsies with no memory of who he was or where he had come from. How he had lived for ten years as one of them and took a gypsy wife. How they had been attacked by an invisible enemy, his family destroyed and memory brought back by the devastation of loosing all he had. And finally, his trek back home to a place he just barely remembered.

Van wondered if he himself did not have amnesia, for his brother was nothing like the Folken he remembered. He was no longer kind, shy, magnetic boy he had been. He was suspicious and secretive. He was tainted and poisoned by the evils of the world, somehow impure¾ even compared to other men his age.

Of course, Van felt guilty for having these thoughts. After all, Folken was his brother. Brothers were loyal, always the first to rush into a dangerous situation to help the other and the last to leave. Beside that, Folken hadn't actually _done_ anything to justify Van's reservations. His focus up to this point, he said, was readjusting to him home and sorting out all his scattered memories.

Van sought solace in his mother's guidance, but what started out as counseling always managed to become an argument where Van challenged Folken's motives and Vari explained away every theory.

Van would say how he felt he no longer knew his brother, how different he had become.

That was to be expected, Vari would say. He had been away from home for a very long time.

Van knew that. He had expected him to be different in some ways. After all, Folken had spent the past ten years of his life with the Reisender nomads who traveled Gaea. He had taken on their customs and quite a few of their beliefs. Especially the superstitions. He insisted on seeing no visitors after sunset if the moon was red because anyone who came calling could be a demon in disguise. Every drink absolutely had to be poured by his own hand. Otherwise, bad luck that had been following the person who served it could be transferred to him. Every other fallacy he had declared ended either with a demon curse or a certain spell of bad luck.

Vari would say that it had been _ten years _and it was been the only culture he knew.

Van would say that he had been fifteen at the time, old enough to remember the traditions that he had practice all his life in Fanelia.

Vari would remind him that Folken had been hunting a dragon before he disappeared and been stricken with amnesia after it attacked him.

Then Van would say that was strange because he had been taught never to follow a dragon into its cave for that very reason.

Vari would say that none of that mattered anymore because Folken was home at last and Van should be grateful. Nothing would come of the argument and he would be right where he started.

"Don't you agree, Van?"

Van snapped out of his daze with a jerk, realizing that he had been lost in his thoughts and was staring vacantly out the large rounded window on he opposite wall of the room. Gaou, Folken, and Vari were all turned to him, waiting more to see his reaction to their intrusion on his daydream than for his answer.

Van look at each of their faces, take aback for an instant by the sudden disturbance. Silence again…He turned the source of question.

"I'm sorry, father. Could you repeat your question?"

Gaou gave a hardy laugh at his son's absentmindedness. Before this he had been just as uncomfortable as Van. The air of tension lessened with the turning of his mood from stern to almost jovial. His shoulders relaxed a little and he spoke in a more casual tone.

"The celebration, my boy. I asked if you agreed that it would be a wonderful chance for you to see many of the royal children you have lost contact with," he repeated, cutting at his meat with a looser motion than before.

"Yes, father. That would be nice." The silence returned for a moment, but Gaou didn't intend to waste the light mood around the table, being such a rare thing as it was.

"I've received word from King Emries of Tyrdon. They commence their journey at sunrise," he continued. "They'll be arriving in about two and a half day, I'd wager."

"Such a large family," Vari began, "to travel such a long distance overland. It must be hard on Aunica's nerves."

"When was the last time you saw them, Vari? When the youngest one was born?"

"Yes, it was Rubious. He must have grown so much by now. They sent us the Burñ el tree when you were born, Van."

Before Van could open his mouth to speak on the matter, Gaou chimed in again, "What about the girls? Van could be meet his future bride at last when they arrive."

"Father, I really don't think¾ " He was cut off again, this time by his mother.

"There are four. Three of them are about Van's age: the twins, Flora and Fauna, and Aunica's daughter, Hitomi. My goodness, I wonder what's become of her. I grew quite attached to her while I was there…" she trailed off, a smile of fondness graced her lips.

"They were all such good children, too," Gaou picked up where his wife left off. "Nothing like the other royal monsters these countries turn out."

He put aside his utensils to speak more freely.

"I remember that brat from Castinovna who came during the winter festival. What was he, the earl of its richest province? Couldn't have been more than ten years old." Gaou paused for a moment and let out good-natured chuckle. "He challenged Van to climb the Burñ el tree in the garden and got stuck in the first branch."

The whole table joined him laughing now, all remembering the portly young earl flailing about in his finest clothing on the white braches of that massive tree.

"He screamed at his manservant to cut the entire _tree _down," Vari said with tears forming in the corners of her eyes, struggling to keep her composure. "He couldn't have been more than three feet off the ground."

"His manservant couldn't have been younger than eighty. He looked as though a strong gust of wind would have taken him down."

The laughter subsided quietly at this comment, all eyes on Folken. It was the first time since his arrival that he had acted like a member of his family, joining them in their laughter and embracing their efforts to reach out to them. For Folken, it was the first time he had let his guard down. He sat still for a moment before flashing a brilliant smile at his observers, a smile none of them had seen in almost ten years. It spread to the others there and to the shining half moon that sailed in a suddenly not-so-dark sky.

Hitomi struggled to keep awake while the first rays of sunshine crept over the horizon and spilled over the land. She felt herself nodding off and was quickly reawakened when a sudden bump in the road caused her forehead to come in contact with the wall of the carriage. She raised her head and regretted it, feeling the soreness in her neck from leaning her head back in an effort to regain some of the lost hours of sleep. _Why does father insist on traveling so early?_ _It's not as though not being able to see the damage in the road will hurt us any less._

She rubbed her sore neck and opened her heavy eyelids to look at her traveling companions. Rubious sat directly in front of her, his knees bumping hers every time the carriage bounced or jerked. His head bobbed from side to side in rhythm with their uncomfortable cage on wheels. Next to him was Rohan. He was perfectly awake and alert, as usual. _Of course he's used to being up at this hour. It's when he's normally sneaking back into his room_, Hitomi thought with a little resentment.

Though both she and Rohan were considered equally peculiar and eccentric by their parents, he got away with it while she was discouraged from such behavior for one simple reasons: he was a boy and she was a girl. After all, what wealthy land owner would want to take a girl who named the stars and played tricks with smoke for a wife? _Demerit thinks she's got it so rough. Psh! She's probably going to marry a king! Me and Flauna will probably be sent off to whatever duke or count will have us. Ew. They'll probably be old and disgusting with ear and nose hair sticking out everywhere. Ugh!_

Hitomi pushed the thoughts from her mind and crossed her arms as though that would protect her from her very hairy fate. _Mother would never let me marry anyone like that…would she? No, of course not. Mama may almost have been a saint, but she's not blind._

She thought back to the gypsy king's daughter, Salamanca. When they arrived, they had been greeted by the king, or "leader of the Gaean sojourners" in the politically correct term, along with Salamanca and Rohan. She was not what Hitomi had expected.

Since they had arrived, she had been told nothing of gypsies except that they were no better than dirty, immoral pirates. Though she had never met one herself, she had been reluctant to believe what the court ladies had said, and one in particular was particularly adamant about convincing her that all gypsies where thieving mongrels. Reisender ambassadors had justified her unwillingness to take Lady Dulancre's word. They were dressed in clean, brightly colored robes and had cheerful dispositions. They asked permission from her father to set up camp outside the castle wall, but they had taken time to show some of the court children a few slight of hand tricks before returning to their people with the good news. When they had left, no one raised cries of a missing wallet or stolen horse.

Feydrian, the leader of the nomads, had greeted Emries with a polite bow and unexpected hug. The royal guards nearly jumped to protect the king before they realized he was in no danger unless their guests intended to kill them with kindness. It gave Aunica much ammunition to tease her husband with when they returned to the palace.

As Feydrian released Emries from his friendship hold of death, Rohan approached hand in hand with Salamanca. She was by far the most exotic woman Hitomi had ever seen. Her black hair shone like silk in the sun and her tan skin was sprinkled with flakes of gold. The loose fitting robe she wore still let her curvy figure show through, and its light huge of red set off her oil-black eyes. The soft lines of her face accented her high cheekbones. _No wonder Rohan couldn't tear himself away from this camp._

After the meal was ended, the rest of the family returned to the palace to make ready from the trip to Fanelia.

"What! We're going _now_! When was this decided?" Hitomi had exclaimed once they were in privet.

"Keep your voice down, Hitomi. It's not ladylike," Aunica had said with uncanny cool. "Your father sent them word yesterday, as soon as he got the invitation. He told his this morning."

"And why didn't anyone tell _me_?" She let herself fall backward onto her bed as her mother ordered the servant to pack Hitomi's ball gowns and lay out her traveling clothes.

"We would have, darling, but you had that spat with Demerit, and things got a little sidetracked."

If that proved anything at all, it was that Demerit was the scourge of her life. Even her name had a legacy of bringing about the downfall of others. Oh sure, she said that she was named after Demerit de Gretna, the Tyrdian queen who ruled the country on her own for forty years, but Demerit was also the name of the mythological goddess who brought death upon each and every one of her lovers¾ mortal and immortal alike. _How fitting. I'm sure she'll live up to her name. Ugh! I've got to stop thinking of her before I hit something. She's not even **here** and she **still** manages to irritate the living daylights out of me!_

Hitomi turned her body toward the window and her mind to Fanelia. She hadn't seen the country since she was five years old. She wondered if it would still look the same. Of course even if it was, everything is different from a child's point of view. Things often seem bigger and grander than they really are. What about the royal family. She was anxious to see Vari, excited to see Gaou, scared to see Folken, and…What about the boy? Van.

She remembered fairly clearly what he looked like, and that was nothing like a prince. Most royal boys her age at any age were spoiled brats who cared more about their appearance than she did. Van could not have been further from that. He had untamed hair and sparkling eyes. Where even most adult were taken aback by the dramatic appearance of the Burñel tree, he had climbed to its tallest branches during their tour of the Fanelian gardens, and she had been right there behind him.

Having few playmates her own age, she had been overjoyed to be in Van's company. He was never without a plan for adventure, whether it was sneaking into the kitchen before dinner or finding somewhere to "misplace" his suffocating formal attire. The only problem was that Van wanted nothing to do with Hitomi. In his five-year-old mind, girls were still icky and inferior.

Hitomi slouched over in her seat and turned to look out the other window. Rohan had closed the curtain and now slept in the same fashion as Rubious. _Boys, _she thought. _They're so stupid. We'll see what Mr. Too-good-to-play-with-girls thinks of me now._

She was saved from reflecting on Van any further by a loud snore that sounded from her right. Ambrese, Deruca's manservant, had been told to travel with them to care for anything Rubious might have needed. The old man's head fell onto his right shoulder, his nose exposing to a disgusted Hitomi a vision of what she could expect when she came of age to marry.

Van's foot twitched uncomfortably, weary from the hour and a half he had spent standing on stool as tailors measured, altered, embroidered, and sized the fabric they would use for the veritable straightjacket he would wear to greet the royal guests in a day or two. Vari had insisted that all of the necessary procedures be taken in one sitting¾ or rather, standing¾ to make sure that everything was ready. Both his father and Folken had gone before him and hade given him sympathetic looks as they left the hot chamber filled with what seemed like ten people bustling to and fro, looking for this fabric or that pattern.

He tried to get his mind off the smothering heat created by the hurried movement of bodies. That was not difficult in the slightest as Van's mind turned back to the person he hadn't stopped thinking of since last night at dinner¾ Hitomi.


	5. One Step Closer

Whoo! Finally, a fifth review! Thanks to inda, fireangel621, my anonymous friend Steve (whom I would like to know whether they are a boy or a girl so that I may change my little nickname accordingly), Macky, Xanthia Nightshade, and Inguz! Yay! Y'all are super mega ultra cool! As is anyone who reads my stories. And special thanks to Inda for her story suggestion. Those are always appreciated.

I apologize for last time's rather abrupt update. I got the chapter done like 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave on vacation.

And for those of you looking at the screen now thinking, "Ugh! She took, like, _forever_ to update. How _dare_ she be so casual, the witch," I say, I TOLD you that I was going to update after I got five reviews. Aw, don't be mad. I just did what I said I was going to do. Come on, guys. Reviews just make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

As many of you may know, school has started since I last visited you with a nice little chapie, and I must once again make time for myself to write as well as set a reasonable deadline. Rather than just leave you hanging for three months like some writers, I'm going to tell you exactly when my next update will be: after I've received 10 reviews.

Please don't think I'm just being cruel. This is a really good way not only for me to keep track of how many people are reading my story, but also for you to keep track of when I will update again. Not only that, I'll have more feedback, so I can craft the story more to your liking.

I was going to make this chapter a little longer, but I figured you'd waited long enough for an update.

By now I'm just going to assume that you're familiar with my number system, so you can always just use that when you review.

Hitomi stretched her arms above her head and let out a long yawn as she looked at the crimson sky. The sun was setting and the royal litter had decided to bed down for he night in a small village that was about a day's journey from the Fanelian capitol. After spending nearly sixteen hours in a cramped carriage, Hitomi couldn't wait to explore her new surroundings. She rolled her eyes as she thought back to Rohan, who she had assumed could be counted on to be her partner in crime, but all he was interested in exploring were the local girls.

Rubious, however, had jumped at the opportunity to get his hands dirty by sneaking around the all-night haunts. In a series of uncanny luck, not only were Hitomi and her brother dressed in hunting tunics and trousers, but they had found that most of the buildings in town were constructed with high beams and shafts¾ perfect for eavesdropping from above.

There was nothing of real value to be gained by spying on the night owls of the little hamlet, but the thrill of adventure made the game exciting none the less. All the pair of superfluous detectives needed was the opportunity to steal away from the protection of their ever watchful mother. There was no way Aunica would let her children out in an unfamiliar place after dark, especially with the intentions they had.

__

"People who spy usually do so to seek out wickedness, and that's exactly what they find," she would say to the nosy laundresses who were caught with their ears to the doors of the royal chambers back home.

But she and Rubious wouldn't actually be _looking_ for anything. It was just a game.

Hitomi realized that she had been staring at the sunset, and the caravan was making their way down a path to a boarding house. As she made her way to join the others, she looked at Demerit just in time to see the arrogant blond finish sending a death glare in her direction and flip her hair snootily.

__

Still want to play games, sister? Don't worry. I've got a special game for you. You're going to be a big help to me whether you want to or not.

Hitomi tip-toed swiftly from shadow to shadow in the dense darkness. Not that that was very hard. She and her younger brother had stumbled upon the industrial corner of the sleepy town, and its corners were ripe with potential adventure. The pitch-black night would make it difficult for a even cat to make its way through the maze of old barns and rundown warehouses. _Perfect conditions for remaining unseen_, Hitomi had thought.

While rounding the corner of a particularly rickety building, she took back the thought as she cringed and sucked in a nervous breath after the sharp clamor of Rubious tripping over another pile of disregarded metal or garbage or a number of other things she would rather not identify invaded her ears.

As much as she loved him, she was beginning to regret bringing him along. If she had come with Rohan, they would already be sitting on the rafters of reputable night lodge, despite its heightened security, listening to the gossip of city officials and their mistresses alike while sipping tall-stem glasses of "complementary" wine and nibbling on "samples" of local delicacies.

With Rubious, she was still struggling to find _any _such a place in the maze of decaying wood. It was not because they did not exist. Secret societies often chose locations in the city slums to house their meetings. It was just that Rubious never failed to knock over a pile of junk every two seconds_. I should have known it was going to be like this when he tried to tell mama we wanted to go out and catch "fire **lies**."_

Luckily, Aunica hadn't heard, and Hitomi was able to save the expedition from being over before it started. When their mother was finally sound asleep, she used a strictly contraband glamour charm to cast an image of her and Rubious lying peacefully in their borrowed beds. The illusion was so convincing that Hitomi had to run her hand through it a time or two to reassure herself that it was in-fact a trick and that she was not having an out-of-body experience. The spell had captured every detail¾ even the sparkle of a tiny string of drool exiting Rubious' open mouth.

Hitomi giggled at the memory while her brother caught up to her in the dark ally. She turned back and waited for the clumsy youth to catch his breath. As he hunched over in the darkness and propped his hands on his knees, Hitomi saw a thin veil of sweat across his forehead, shimmering by a thin thread of light that managed to escape the clouds' choking grasp on the slim moon. Rubious was an energetic boy back a home, where he knew every hiding place and obstacle, but he was by no means in any shape to creep skillfully from cache to cache in a potentially dangerous and unfamiliar area.

Hitomi began to realize just how big of a mistake bringing him was turning out to be. She sighed and turned back to the scene that lied before them: the abandoned and broken structures looked like an army of black, smoking giants. The darkness was getting thicker as the tiny sliver of moon in the sky was smothered by another solid patch of gray clouds. The slight breeze caused the unsteady towers of rot to groan and shift eerily. Something that sounded like a mix between a creaking door and howling cat resounded in the distance.

There was no way Hitomi could take her ten-year-old brother in there and expect to him be safe. It was decided. They were going home.

"Turn around, Rubious. I think we've had enough."

He stood upright with a sudden burst of energy.

"Why? We haven't even go _inside _anyplace."

"And we're not going to. Come on."

"How are we even going to find our way out? There's less light out there than in here. I can barely see my hand in from of my face," he said while motioning to the thick ribbon of trees that created a wall around the western side of the sinister wasteland.

Hitomi, who had already started in the opposite direction, began to feel the muscles in her back tighten. Rubious' insubordination was getting to her. As a princess, she was unaccustomed to having her orders questioned just as her brother was unaccustomed to having his orders ignored. _Don't loose it, Hitomi. He's just a kid._

"We'll just follow the trail you paved on your way in here," she said, trying unsuccessfully to bite back the edge of her words.

Rubious picked up her hostility and shot back without missing a beat. "If you find _anything_ at all, I think I'll die of shock."

Hitomi stopped mid-step and looked over her shoulder at the boy behind her. She felt her fists clench slightly as she managed to whisper, "What did you say?"

Rubious gulped and regretted letting his pride get the best of him. "Hitomi," he said in a much softer voice, "I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. I'm not a baby. I can do this. I know I can."

His sister relaxed a little at his apologetic tone. She moved to stand beside him and put her hand on his head. He was just below her shoulder now. She hadn't realized how much he had grown.

She placed a hand on either side of his round face and forced his gaze to meet hers. Hitomi looked into Rubious's eyes and saw her own worried visage reflected. For the first time her life, she began to truly understand how lonely her brother must have been. Rubious was sheltered and shut away by their mother because of what he was. She was determined to let him have a normal childhood before he was taken away by the priests of Viridian to be raised to fulfill his destiny, whatever that might be. He had few friends outside servants and family, much like the twins.

But the twins have each other. Rubious has no one else. Hitomi felt a twinge of guilt pang in her chest.

He had turned out fairly normal, despite his lack of interaction with children his own age. Like most ordinary boys, he had their mother's nose and lips and their father's strong chin, but he also retained one very rare trait: Rubious had one green eye and one blue eye. To any regular person on the street, this might have been interpreted as a curse, a mark of evil. To those who practiced or studied the magic arts, the significance was obvious¾ he was the reincarnation of the great warrior Tyr Uziami, by whom Tyrdon had been liberated by and named for.

Rubious didn't know. No one but Hitomi and her mother knew, and that was the way Aunica wanted it to stay. She had removed any doubt of that the night before they left for Fanelia.

__

" 'The reincarnation of Lord Tyr Uziami will come to us in a time of great strife and despair.' That is what the prophecy says. If anyone knew, Hitomi, it would mean¾ "

"I **know** mother. Don't say it. But what do I tell father when I read his cards? What if it shows?"

"You will say nothing. Speak only of the journey to Fanelia and nothing else."

And now she was here, staring into the face of someone who was arguably the most powerful person on Gaea as he begged her to let him prove himself to her.

"All right. But we have to find somewhere fast. We're burning moonlight."

"Oomp!" Hitomi grunted as she struggled to bear-crawl over the thick beam of the swaying warehouse. She wriggled and squirmed her way across the wooden post while Rubious followed with relative ease. _He must have been a squirrel in one of his past lives._

The pair were following a dim light that shone across the room from a crack in the wall where the beam they climbed entered into the next chamber. They had decided not to chance setting off any hidden security measures at the direct entrance by going around the back way. Hitomi had not, however, anticipated scaling a thirty foot wall, nearly falling to an early demise from a rotted off window sill, and navigating her way over another thirty foot drop across a rickety pillar in a drafty room during the pitch black night. They only light she and Rubious had to guide them was the soft glow from her red-pink pendant, a gift from her grandmother.

As if that wasn't enough danger already, the gigantic warehouse echoed every sound above a whisper, threatening to give the siblings away to anyone listening from¾ say¾ the next kingdom.

Hitomi blew a loose strand of hair away from her eyes. _This is going to be a long night._

Folken sifted through the pages of his endless books. The moon soared high above the castle and he was frustrated with his day's menial success. A chill ran through the high-ceilinged room and made it seem more lonely and desolate than it had in the past sixteen hours.

The first guests are arriving tomorrow, and I've gotten little work done. One this place is filled with the pompous royals of Gaea, I will have no chance to myself for study.

He skimmed the final page of a large brown genealogy book, and upon finding nothing, became still. He stared at the useless page for several minutes, letting the deafening silence sink into the room. He felt a heavy weight on his back, though he wore no armor or weapons. His mind drew blank and his focus blurred.

As suddenly as he had set motionless, he flung the manuscript aimlessly from his sight with a cry of frustration. He leaned his elbows on the table before him and cradled his throbbing head in his hand.

He had not been told what he was looking for, only that he would know when he found it. _What was that supposed to mean?_

"The key to the destruction of Gaea lies within the walls of Fanelia, embraced by an angel, hidden in radiance, seeing and not seeing," the oracle had told him.

That was the only lead he had been given. Not even the high priests or elder advisors could find any more information on the Chosen One. The One who would help lead Gaea to victory, to glory, to peace. The One who would destroy everything he had been working so hard to achieve. The One he would kill.

Folken leaned all his weight on the back of the wooden chair and let his arms collapse on the table. He let his eyes lose focus and listened to the sound of his own racing pulse. _Embraced by an angel…_

It was the one phase that he could not shake, the lead that was so close he could feel its warm breath on his cheek, only to be left cold and alone each night no better off than when he had begun. An angel? It obviously made reference to something with wings of that dealt with flight, but there was no way of telling exactly what. It could be almost anything: a winged statue, painting, or even levi ship. Nonetheless, it would probably be the easiest to recognize of the three signs he had been given.

Wearily, Folken rose from the table and stretched his cramped legs. Silent as a cat, his soundless footsteps lead him to the great oak doors of the library. As she swung the barrier open, he was blinded by a intense light directly in front of him. He raised his arm to his eyes, feeling the sting of tears as his body attempted to regain its composure.

__

An attack?

Folken drew his sword from its hard sheath, took his battle stance, and readied himself for the onslaught of relentless enemies. He stood for a second, untouched in the passageway, the quiet of the morning ringing in his ears. There his foe remained unmoving before him, the morning sunlight, its golden blades shining from the window at the end of the corridor.

Van ran his fingers through her silky auburn again before trailing his fingers down her face and to the delicate skin of her throat. He felt her pulse quicken at his touch and sensed his own heart's jump at her reaction. He laid her small frame back down on the crisp white sheets, moonlight spilling in through the thin vale curtains that shivered with the caress of the cool night breeze.

Van hovered over her for a moment, placing a leg on either side of her, drinking in the sight of her. Her eyes were closed as she struggled to maintain a her breathing; her chest moved up and down in a rapid rhythm. Her untamed hair was spread across the coverlet, and her nightgown had slipped further up her legs, gathering just above her knees.

Van leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers. Her brilliant jade eyes fluttered open, contrasting with the tint of red that graced her hot skin.

"Van, I need you," she whispered as she wrapped a slender leg around his waist. "Van," she murmured again, placing her hand behind his head and drawing his lips unbearably close to hers.

Now it was his pulse that quickened, excited by her aggressive move. Her breath was hot against his mouth, their bodies pressed so tantalizingly close…

Her fingers remained tangled in his hair, bringing him close to the edge but refusing to push.

"Make love to me, Van," she purred. "I want you to¾ "

She was cut off as Van's eager mouth consumed hers, closing the gap that separated them from being one.

He moved from her delicate lips to the skin of her neck, collar bone, shoulder, near the seam of her thin covering.

"Van," she breathed again. "Van…Van…clear out the horse stables," she slapped him across the back of his head.

"Van!"

Van jerked up in his bed, confused and bewildered at the sharp turn his fantasy had taken.

As he looked around at his disheveled sheets, he heard someone clear their throat from beside his night table. Folken stood beside it, obviously trying to stifle a laugh.

"Uhhh…father sent word that mother has all the servants running around with preparations for the ball and volunteered us to help move the horses to the grazing pasture."

Van stared at Folken during what seemed like the longest, most uncomfortable silence in the history of all existence. He felt his face grow hotter with each passing second until finally managing a low, "I'll be there in a bit."

Even before Van was able to finish, his brother had made for the exit and barely heard the last syllable before the shut of the door made a gentle _click_.


	6. Winds of Change

Whoo! Another chapter! Aren't you proud of me? I was all like, "Self, how about another chapter." But then I was all like, "Well, you haven't gotten enough reviews for the last one yet." Then I was all "Who cares? I've got all these ideas floating around in my head with no place to go!" The following is really just an in-between the action. A Plot-mover, if you will. Lots of plot thickening. So just tell me what you think, how it made you feel, and what you'd like to see happen next. Let's just all share our feelings! Yay!

Whoa, I need to sit down and unwind. Anyway, yeah, enjoy (and use the number system)!

* * *

On a dangerously neglected country road in the middle of Who-Knows-Where, Hitomi looked down at her hands on her lap as they were jostled from side to side with the motion of the carriage. She and Rubious had returned to their barrowed beds following the their late-night excursion just in time to warm the sheets before Aunica had roused them again. "Wake from your peaceful slumber, my children of light," she had said in a gentle airy tone. Hitomi wished she riding with her mother now, asleep in the queen's tender embrace.

She turned her hands over and over, examining the small splinters and ragged cuticles that decorated her skin like ugly jewels. They felt warm and heavy as though holding an invisible puzzle cube, the kind Rohan and Rubious spent hours twisting and turning until they discarded it in frustration. _They're holding a burning secret._

Hitomi knew she would be unable to rest even if she had the chance, the events of the previous night still haunting her like a restless ghost. She tried to swat the thoughts from her mind, but they persisted like flies to spilled nectar. Looking out the carriage window to the thin ribbon of light that struggled to escape the horizon, she thought back to what she and her little brother had overheard as they sat above the gathering of city officials in the rundown warehouse back in the small rural village.

They sat comfortably on a strong rafter, she letting her arm dangle carelessly while waiting for the meeting to begin, he fighting back the urge to terrorize the building's inhabitants with phantom shadow puppets.

"Be patient and sit still," she had told Rubious, lazily finishing off a long-stemmed glass of pink champagne. "You'll give us away if you keeping moving around like that, and I'm in no mood to have to rescue your butt from this…utopia," the words left her mouth slowly as the broken light from the chandlers filtered through the glass and painted shards of gold on her face.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to lose your supply of drink. How much longer 'til they start, Hitomi? This is boring," he whined. She swung playfully at the back of his head from where she lay, missing by a large margin, and he pinched her nostrils shut until she shot up to gasp for air and trapped Rubious in a good-natured headlock, if there was such a thing.

He had been right, though. The small dose of alcohol had slowed her thinking. She should have realized that this wasn't like the other times where corrupt leaders and rich cartel members relaxed and boozed with their ladies-of-the-night. The men here were solemn and waiting, the heavy air of tension was lost to her lightheadedness.

Hitomi and Rubious went back to their former positions, the green-eyed girl twirling the elegant glass in her hand while propped up on one arm, admiring the fine cuts and painfully flawless vine details. The meeting began with issues of little interest to the siblings: arraignments for the summer festival, volunteers needed to rebuild a barn that had burned down during a grass fire, plans for a new irrigations system for the farmers.

"Is there any other new business?" the old man at the front of the room asked. No hands stirred from the sides of the attendants.

"Very well," he continued. "Your majesty King Emries of Tyrdon may have the floor."

Hitomi gasped as she sat up again, the crystal chalice flew from her hands and shattered on the embroidered carpet below. No one but a startled servant noticed as Emries' deep voice filled the room, and he looked up to see only shadows resting on the high rafters. She and Rubious clamored over each other as they noiselessly jumped and crawled on the skeleton of the rotting shed house, finding perches closer to their father's bulky figure behind the steel podium. Deruca was at his side.

She could barely hear the king's voice over the sounds of her heart beating in her ears and Rubious' asthmatic breathing. _How could one destined to be such a great warrior have respiratory problems?_ she thought unkindly. She turned her attention quickly back to the words that resounded effortlessly through the large room.

Emries spoke of Prince Folken Lacour de Fanel's return. He had been stricken with amnesia after a dragon attack, taken in by a gypsy tribe, and made his way back to Fanelia when the trauma of loosing his family during a siege by an invisible enemy had jolted his lost memories.

_What was the problem? _the Elders had asked. _Should they not be praising the gods at that very moment for the safe return of a prince?_

They should, her father had said, except that there was a problem with the story of Folken's trials that could not be ignored. The Reisender Tribe, which he claimed had adopted him and were later completely wiped out, were in Tyrdon at this very hour.

_That's impossible_, someone from the crowd cried out. _Gypsies are lying thieves. Why believe them over Folken?_

Emries raised his hand to silence the man, reminding him that all where in the presence of royalty. He continued with the account of his discussion with the gypsy leader, Feydrian. It was true they had been attacked by an invisible enemy, but they had been on familiar ground and most of the clan had managed to escape using a series of underground tunnels. They had never sheltered the prince. Salamanca, the supposed bride of Folken, had never been betrothed.

The crowd was sent into an uproar, and Hitomi made a mad dash for the nearest exit, leaving Rubious to scramble after her. She swung herself onto a rickety outdoor staircase, taking the steps two and three at a time, until her feet found solid ground. Rushing blindly behind a pile of garbage, she was sick, feeling what little vision she possessed spot over in the near-darkness. She felt her brother's hands rub her shoulders as she sat back on her knees, wiping the bile from her lip with the back of her rust-stained hand. They had made their way to the barrowed cabin in a wordless daze, both too stunned or too frightened to process the information to which they had just become privy.

_I don't want this_, Hitomi had thought as she pulled the clean sheets over her dirty clothes, hot tears escaping from behind her clenched eye lids. They hadn't protested when her mother woke brother and sister an hour later, glad to be distracted from the silence that gave them too much time to think. A worried Aunica had felt their foreheads, sensing the sizeable change in her children's usually lively dispositions. She didn't have a chance to drill them for an explanation before Demerit screamed from her chamber, but she gave them a meaningful glance as she rushed to tend to whatever disaster awaited in her step-daughter's room.

Now Hitomi winced, partly from her memories and partly from a sliver of wood she'd just removed from under her fingernail. She ignored the tiny swell of blood and looked up across from her at Rubious, sleeping dreamlessly she hoped. _He always sleeps best when he doesn't dream, _she remembered with a fond smile. Her visage dropped again when she recalled that it was because his dreams were usually premonitions foretelling the tragic and unlucky. Aunica had started giving him potions to keep the visions away when a particularly dark one had caused Rubious to lock himself in a closet.

_They're coming for me,_ he had repeated while almost everyone in the castle pleaded with him to come out. Three days he sheltered himself from the outside world.

Aunica refused to discuss the incident with anyone afterward, and all who sought answers were left to make speculations on their own. It was out of character for the queen, who usually preferred to dispel rumors before they had a chance to take root in the mind of gossiping court leeches.

Aunica knew that her children were considered oddities of sorts by the court. Her past as a priestess at Viridian was no secret. It had been the very reason why she was selected by Emries to become his queen. _A delicate bloom plucked from the vine_, Hitomi thought. _Flourishing even in a vase of sewage. _

The temple where she had been schooled did not reveal its teachings to outsiders, but it was unspoken knowledge that magic was practiced on a regular basis. Though they didn't know, all of Tyrdon was witness to Aunica's power. During a particularly severe drought, she had used all of her strength, nearly killing herself, to bring a small but adequate shower from the coast to the fields. Luckily she recovered because it was shortly after that incident that Aunica learned she would be giving birth to her first daughter.

Hitomi had visions on occasion, but the images never made much sense. She read tarot, but that was common in Tyrdon and considered to be little more than a carnival trick. Perhaps her true abilities had not yet been awakened. Nevertheless, it was widely believed that magical abilities were passed along the female side of families, and Hitomi often felt the burn of courtiers eyes on her as she walked through the market or at festivals or balls. She heard their lowered voices and saw the slight turns of the heads, words for their ears only.

As far as she knew, Rohan's only power was his ability to disappear whenever there was work to be done. _He has a silver tongue_, Aunica had explained_. It gives his the power to talk his way out of any danger_. Whatever power he may have inherited, he had done an excellent job of hiding it. Hitomi couldn't recall a single time she'd see Rohan display supernatural abilities of any sort.

_Maybe he's just lucky_, she thought as the early morning sun rose at last above the earth and warmed her skin with gentle warmth. She looked over at Rohan, who was turning the pages of a small brown book, its cover tattered and stained with age. She hadn't even noticed that he was awake. He read with uncanny speed, drinking in the words like they were precious water in a barren desert.

He told the people who inquired about the aged manuscript, usually giggling court girls who dared each other to approach him while he looked ever so introspective reading under the shade of broad-leafed trees in the gardens, that it was an encyclopedia of legends. Close. It was in fact a volume on the history of their people. Their trials and tribulations, the rise and fall of great leaders, building and rebuilding of capitol cities, and even spells were nestled safely within the binding of its yellow pages.

No one from the court would find anything that told of their history, though. It was the legacy of their other ancestors, the other half of the blood that ran in their veins, the part they did not share with the rest of Tyrdon.

"How far have you gotten?" Hitomi broke the comfortable silence.

Rohan looked up slowly, as though he was expecting her question. Her eyes had been a gentle tapping on his shoulder. "I skipped ahead to the ritual of the selection of the divine priestess¾ " he closed the front cover and tucked the book securely in his tunic "¾ but it's all so complex and elaborate. Did you know mother had to levitate herself exactly one inch above the highest spire of the Viridian temple for three days? Just to be allowed in so she could walk through the Maze of Erlys."

Hitomi twisted her lips is disgust, imagining her mother's exhaustion after completing such a meaningless task. When would her mother's survival depend on levitating in the same spot for seventy-two hours?

"Was that before she had to break through a wall by screaming at it?"

"No. That comes first. Then levitation, then the maze, then spirit channeling."

"Thank gods I'll never become a priestess."

"Yeah. And that's all just the physical part. There's a whole other series of trials that involve just the mind, then just spiritual projection."

"Spiritual projection? Couldn't she have died doing that?

"Absolutely."

"Then why is that part of the ritual? Why kill someone who had already made it so far?"

"The head priestess has to be a warrior of mind, body, and soul. If she couldn't master all three, then she might as well have not mastered any of them. Why would a people who were under constant fear of persecution want a guardian who could only protect them some of the time?"

He had made his point. Hitomi couldn't even begin to fathom what it must be like to be one of them. Always fearful that this would be the day they were discovered, this would be the day the barrier gave way, this would be the day all their precautions and planning came crashing down around them.

She looked him square in the eye, hoping the connection they shared would be her lifeline if what he was about to confess brought on one of his infamous fits of rage. Rohan may have been borderline anti-social, but people respected his self-imposed isolation for a reason.

"I know. Rubious and I know." She spoke freely, confident that the slumbering Ambrese would be awakened only by pinching his sensitive ear. Even the storms brought on by hurricanes had trouble rousing him from sleep.

"I know you know. Father and Deruca sensed you at the meeting."

Hitomi turned away, feeling a pain prick at her heart. Their father had told Rohan what he knew about the Prince of Fanelia, but not her? He chose to confide in a boy whose only pursuit was that of leisure over she who had never betrayed a trust?

"They may be only human, but did you not think they have learned to feel your aura?" Rohan spoke a decibel louder, taking her action as an attempt to drop the subject.

She shot a look back at him, needles seethed through her watering eyes. Rohan exhaled, his hard gaze softened.

"I know what you're thinking, but your wrong. It's not that he doesn't trust you, he just wanted to keep you safe. There is something really wrong in Fanelia, and we're headed straight into the heart of it. He thought that if you didn't know anything, no one would have any reason to go after you or Rubious or Flauna and Demerit." He reached across the cramped space and placed a sympathetic hand on her arm. "He wanted me to protect you."

The siblings let out twin scoffs of laughter.

"I know, I know." Rohan regained his usual jovial glow. "_Me_ protect _you_? I couldn't even keep track of you in a place where there's nowhere to go long enough to keep you out of that warehouse. And that's because you had _Rubious_ with you!"

They both laughed out loud, Hitomi felt her shoulders relax. _When was the last time they had talked like this?_

"Was father mad at you for us being there?"

"Well," the prince settled comfortably back in his seat, "after I followed your trail¾ our baby brother's handy work, I presume?" Hitomi nodded, smiling at the memory of his awkward maneuvering. "Good. I know I taught you better than that. Anyway, the meeting was over by the time I followed it to the warehouse, and father was waiting for me. I won't go into detail, but just let me say that it took a _lot _of effort for me to bend my back far enough to sit down in this carriage."

Hitomi snickered, but Rohan silenced her with a sharp glance.

"May I continue?"

"Yes, please do."

"As I was saying…that's it. It was horrible." Hitomi couldn't suppress her laugher, and Rohan joined her, waking their sleeping brother. Just then Ambrese choked on a snore and sputtered, sending all three into fits of giggles.

"Wait." Rohan shot up again, then regretted it as the pain in his back reminded him of his duty toward his siblings. He recovered and continued. "Was it you who did that to Demerit's hair?"

Hitomi sobered up. With a mischievous grin that gave her away she said, "Dearest brother, I haven't a clue what you're talking about." She pressed her hands together and pouted her lips in mock innocence.

"What happened to Demerit's hair?" Rubious chimed in, looking back and forth at his elder brother and sister.

Not taking his eyes off Hitomi, who was doing her best to maintain an saintly posture, Rohan said, "There was wood staining oil in one of her soap bottles. Her hair is almost totally black."

"You said that stuff would make her hair smell, not turn its color!" Rubious exclaimed at Hitomi, an accusing finger extended in her direction.

"You wouldn't have done it if I had told you what it really was!" she shot back, shocked that he would rat her out.

"You got our little brother to do your dirty work for you?" Rohan interrupted them, looking at Hitomi with disbelief. Rubious let a smug smile spread across his face, confident that his sister would now pay for her small deception.

Instead, Rohan grinned approvingly and slapped her knee in congratulations. "I've taught you well."

"Hey!" Rubious proclaimed in protest.

As the sound of their squabbling filled the carriage, the sleeping Ambrese remained at peace, the only affect of their playful argument on him being a dream of oddly familiar chattering squirrels.

* * *

A velvet sky blanketed the small camp, the cooking fire sending waves of gray to disappear into a sea of sparkling diamonds. Hitomi stared up at the cover of deep blue away from the rest, and Rubious joined her, throwing his head back dramatically to look above and loosing his balance.

_Oomph!_

His sister dragged him back to his feet, loosing her own blanket in the process, the thick material pooling around her feet.

"Mother said the stew's ready," he rubbed his bruised rump. Hitomi giggled as she wrapped herself again, the night air biting at her skin.

She looked back up toward the Heavens. "No, its not. She just doesn't want me out here by myself. No time alone to think. No time to ponder the meaning of life," she tore her gaze from the sky back to Rubious. "It's her form of punishment."

"How do you know?" He cocked a questioning eyebrow at her, batting playfully at her waist-length braid.

"Because it would drive _her _crazy. Mother likes being able to just think." She ignored his assault on her neatly arraigned hair.

"About what?" He continued whacking sloppily at his sister, enjoying hearing about his mother's mysterious nature, but enjoying the annoyance he was causing even more.

"Anything. Everything. Nothing," she grabbed her hair and brought it over her shoulder. _Safe for now_.

Rubious let out a defeated sigh. Sometimes Hitomi just stood outside like this, looking at the Mystic Moon or the stars. He liked to guess what she was thinking about. A girl like Hitomi, so powerful and she didn't even know it, must have amazing thoughts swimming around in that big head of hers.

He sat on the soft grass beside her, the sweet sent of earth greeted him like an old friend. He watched her watching the sky. Maybe she was thinking about her magic, how she would wield it once she got control of it. But then he remembered that she didn't know it was there. Maybe she's waiting for a shooting star. She wouldn't waist it on something stupid like money or a prince charming. She would wish for a hundred years of peace for Tyrdon. She would wish that all the orphans in the world would find good homes. No more poverty or sickness. No more lost puppy dogs or some crap like that.

He smiled to himself at his tiny curse. No one knew that he knew those words. He liked to think that he'd outsmarted them, that they didn't know everything about him. "An open book," his mother called him. He had an honest face, and anyone could read what he was thinking.

He turned back to the girl next to him. Hitomi stared at the blue abyss overhead, her eyes screamed a secret longing. _She's looks like a caged bird. She never even tries to spread her wings anymore_.

He stood, swung his arms around her neck from behind, and hugged his big sister. "I'll tell them you're using the little girls' bush or something."

She squeezed his hand. "Thanks," turning her head at a slight angle to look behind at Rubious.

He met Rohan on his way back to the camp fire, the brothers grasping wrists in greeting.

"What is she doing?" Rohan motioned his head at Hitomi, crossing toned arms over his lean chest.

"Just thinking," Rubious shoved his hands into empty pockets, his breath leaving a trail of white air in its wake.

"Father was pretty hard on her, huh?" the elder kept his sympathetic gaze on Hitomi, watching the wind play with unraveling locks from her braid.

"Yeah, I think this was the first time he's ever actually _yelled_ at her."

"And all over Demerit's stupid hair," Rohan looked back at the younger brother, finding admirable concern in his familiarly differently-colored eyes. "Vanity's a sin, you know. We should sneak into her tent tonight, just hack the rest of it off."

"No way. Mother lectured me on that already. She said that there's no _them_ and _us_, we're all brothers and sisters. That Hitomi is being fitfully punished for 'acting needlessly against a member of her own family.'"

Rohan scoffed. "It _not _'us' and 'them.' It us and Demerit. No one has problems with Deruca or Flora and Fauna the way they have problems with her. You know why, don't you? Why she hates mother and Hitomi so much? It's because she knows she can't be Queen Daughter or Crowned Princess. If father hadn't married mother, he would have let Demerit rule as queen. And Hitomi's the daughter of the king _and_ queen, so that makes _her _crowned princess."

Rubious took a deep breath and exhaled. Something about the thought of Hitomi being hated made the muscles in his shoulders tense. Even if it _was _only Demerit. Demerit hated a lot of people, so why feel threatened? She was just full of hot air. _Because this is a struggled for power, even if Hitomi doesn't know it, and that makes it a war_, he confessed to himself.

"It's not like she can do anything about it anyway." He eyed his older brother hopefully. Rohan stayed silent. "Right? She can't, can she?"

Rohan looked down and shuffled the dirt with his feet. Rubious sensed he was getting bored with his younger brother's lack of political knowledge "No, not really," he looked up again and flipped his dark brown hair, which had grown to just above his earlobes. "I mean, unless Demerit wanted to kill her."

Rubious' breath caught in his throat, but the elder didn't notice his alarm.

"But it's not like that would ever happen, so I'd say she's pretty much stuck with the way things are." He slapped Rubious on the shoulder. "Go ahead and eat. I'll bring her in."

Rubious didn't watch Rohan jog over to Hitomi, taking a seat on a blanket next to Aunica, but he heard him drag her back to the camp circle, her legs flailing above his head as he carried her over his shoulder.

* * *

_The prince climbed to the highest spire in the castle where he found the princess asleep on her bead, as beautiful as the day she had fallen into her hundred-year slumber. He knelt at her side and kissed her lips, soft as rose petals. Her eyes gently fluttered open, and she knew him. The spell was broken. All within the castle awoke at last, and a great celebration followed. The prince and princess were married. The princess later bore a baby daughter and they lived happily ever after._

Aunica's voice, husky from the hour of story telling, drew silent as she brought the tale to a close. Around the fire, all but Hitomi and Emries were sound asleep. Even the servants were unable to keep the Dream gods away. Her daughter and husband had always been the only ones who stayed awake for the entire story. For Emries, it was the desire to keep his wife close. Aunica suspected that he was being extra careful with her, afraid to loose another wife to the cruel hand of fate. But Hitomi…

For her, it seemed a conviction. As though the stories would disappear forever if she did not listen the whole way through. Even as a child, when her brothers and sisters nodded off in their protective semi-circle on the floor of the royal chambers, Hitomi forced her eyes open. Not even Rohan, openly obsessed with the history of their people, felt obligated to show such religious devotion to her recounts of the ancient legend of the Sleeping Princess.

Aunica flashed her daughter a warm smile from across the fire, but Hitomi did not return it. Her scowl remained intact, fury seeping into her emerald eyes, and she turned over on her blanket as though turning her back on her mother severed their connection.

_You cannot hide from me, little one. I am in your blood. Do you hear it sing? I am calling your name. _Aunica knew her daughter heard her, she projected the thoughts like rain.

_Maybe I could hear it better if it was not confined within your skin._

Aunica's heart jumped at the words Hitomi shot back. Had her daughter just threatened her? _Angry or not, I am stronger than you, my love. In ancient Viridian, it was not uncommon for children to challenge their parents for the last morsel of food, the last gasp of clean air, the last glimpse of the sun. _

There was no reply. Of course she was angry, she felt betrayed. But what could Aunica do? Hitomi had touched Emries' last nerve with her little prank. Aunica had no choice but to support his decision. Hitomi was to be punished, even if Demerit _did _have it coming.

The queen sighed as she turned over on her side, feeling Emries' protective arm snake around her waist. Why had he reacted so dramatically to the situation? It was just hair, after all. But no, it was not. Emries was under so much stress, the questions raised by Folken's return wore on his conscious, and the display of what he perceived to be sibling rivalry had set him off. Now Hitomi felt as though they had both sided with Demerit.

The girl hadn't cried during Emries' rant, not a single tear. The voice that had brought hardened criminals to their knees begging for forgiveness could not sway the iron countenance of his teenage daughter. But Aunica _had _wept. She felt traitorous, not something that Emries could comprehend. _She is our child. It is our right to discipline her as we see fit_, he had said.

He didn't understand, though. She and her children shared a bond that he did not. A history of survival that was based on unity. They were almost extinct, barely even a race of people anymore, and she had chosen to side with another rather than her own kin. _What have I done?_

Aunica tried to clear the thoughts from her mind and focus on the positive aspect of her journey. They would soon be among the only other family of their kind that lived outside the Great City. She would be with Vari, her best friend who would understand her remorse. Perhaps their children would at last find kindred souls and playmates. For Hitomi…well, Van would be her age by now. Maybe he would be the prince who would finally rescue her from her sleep.

* * *

Van leaned his head back on the stone wall, seated on the ledge of the balcony. He looked out at he glistening city before him, the tiny lights of hearths and lanterns glistened like a sea of white fire. A light breeze caressed his bare chest, and he unfolded the palm that rested on his bent knee, feeling the invisible current warm against his skin.

He turned his eyes to the sky above, the "candles of the night" shining more brilliantly than any man-made flame. He couldn't not sleep. He dared not. Each time he laid his head on the down pillow, he found himself revisited by those haunting green eyes…_They'll be here tomorrow_, he told himself again.

He could not tear his thoughts away from Hitomi. During his chores the previous day, the morning's dream replayed over and over. Her lips, her hair, her skin, but most of all were those piercing green eyes, so full of fire and passion.

She returned to him in dreams, each no longer than a few desperately sensual minutes. They were in a forest. She sang at the edge of a babbling brook as he combed her hair with an ivory brush. In another they lay under the Brunel tree, his head rested on her stomach as he relived childhood memories and she ran her fingers through his raven locks. The next one had them together in bed, where the first dream had left off. She giggled and taunted as he chased her in a tangle of white sheets. When he thought he'd caught her at last, he awoke, grasping at air.

_I need her_, he thought, looking back out at the city gates where she would enter. _Hurry, kylamora._ Loosely translated the set phrase meant "soul mate." It could also be used as either the feminine version of "One of Two Souls Who Are Lovers" or the possessive of "Soul's Lover." His inherited language had no shortage of expressions for young lovers to romance each other with.

_Kylamora_. He spoke the ancient word aloud, tasting the way it felt on his tongue, wondering how she would compare.

* * *

Hitomi stood on the rim of the forest, watching the sun of a foreign land rise for the third time. A gentle wind blew her hair. She closed her eyes and listened.

The wind carried words from far away places, it could sing, it could weep. Man had simply lost his ability to hear.

She took in a deep breath of clean air, hoping it would not be her last before they returned home.

Her plan had worked. She heard the proof in the plans Demerit made with her servant, Gertrude. Her hair was a deep shade of brown now, and none of her outfits would match anymore. She would need to do a total overhaul of her wardrobe and would require all the servants at their disposal to do so in a timely manner. With no royal train to stand in her way, Hitomi would be a free bird, able to come and go as she please while remaining unseen.

As much as she loved being the glittering jewel of her small home country, she loved being invisible during large affairs. There was safety in numbers, and people felt more at ease to say what was really on their minds about royalty, politics, the economy, art, music, religion, and a number of things that no one would ever seriously bother to discuss with her. Security was heightened at big gatherings anyway, so she was perfectly safe even in the guise of a commoner.

"Hitomi!"

The shrill call interrupted her thoughts.

She turned behind her to see the aging Ambrese panting from his short jog, "Lady Hitomi! Princess!" He huffed and puffed when he reached her, his wrinkled hands grasped his shaking knees for support. "M'lady, the caravan makes ready to leave. Will you give me the pleasure of escorting you back?" He held out a quaking arm.

Hitomi accepted it more to give the old servant a shoulder to lean on rather than to acknowledge his gesture of courtesy. She use to other hand to lift the layers of silk fabric off the ground, not wanting to risk dirtying the gown Aunica had spent hours sewing by hand.

To say she loved the dress was an understatement. Though she wasn't particularly fond of formal gatherings, she was proud to wear her mother's handiwork to this one, the deep green material at the top of the neckline graduating fading into misty tinted white. Gold vines and doves decorated the right side tastefully, the full skirt gave the illusion that she was floating.

Her hair matched of course, though she wasn't sure that the style would make it through the hot, sweaty six hours they would spend in the carriage the rest of the way to Fanelia. It was pinned up with lavish barrettes in the shape of dragonflies and painted shades of green. _Who cares if we over use it? It's your best color_, Aunica would say.

She glanced at her mother as Ambrese helped her arraigned the multi-layered dress around her seat. Aunica was being hoisted into her own carriage, the twenty pounds of fabric bearing down noticeably on her small frame. She glanced in Hitomi's direction, sensing her gaze, and smiled warmly before giving a final heave of effort into the cage with wheels.

They would reach their destination before the day's end, and mother and daughter would probably not spend a single moment alone until they returned to Tyrdon. Royalty had duties, after all, and there were certain expectations…

Hitomi pushed back the curtain for one last glimpse of the real world, the wild grass and trees unafraid to grow to towering heights. Just as she pulled the barrier back in place, a breeze filtered through into the stuffy space, and she thought she heard it whisper to her. It called her _kylamora_, it called her its lover.

But that was impossible, she thought. The wind was coming from the north, the direction of Fanelia. There was nothing wild there, nothing free…Only a cage just small enough to keep her wings pinned to her back.


	7. Sibling Rivalry

Hello all. This is only half of chapter 7, but since I've been having really bad computer problems and don't know when my internet is going to be running again, I decided to just upload this now that I have a chance. I would like y'all to take a vote in your reviews. Tell me whether you want me to upload parts of chapters if I'm having computer problems, even if they're incomplete, or just wait until the whole thing's done, even though it could take longer to get the chapter out. Aside from that, it's all good. Happy reading!

* * *

Hitomi twirled around in front of the full-length mirror, watching the soft fabric of her lacy dress twist lazily to catch up with her dance. The hem just barely grazed the floor, swaying to and fro like the gentle tide of the ocean. The princess stopped to admire the fine handiwork from another angle. Atop her crowned head, perfectly shaped ringlets brushed her bare shoulders, which were sprinkled with gold dust. The dress was as white as new fallen snow. A tight corset top spilled into a ballroom skirt, expertly embroidered with tiny blue birds and tear drop diamonds by golden thread. It was elegant. It was beautiful. It was a masterpiece. It was Demerit's. 

She had planned on Demerit being upset the day before, of course, but never did Hitomi anticipate the whirlwind reaction her step-sister had taken. As anticipated, Demerit did away with all the clothes she had brought from Tyrdon, claiming that they no longer matched her "deep auburn" hair. Hitomi guess that she was still in her bed chamber with all of their servants from home, dismissing spools of fabric with the wave of her manicured hand as she sat in an overstuffed chair lined with embroidered velvet.

Demerit did indeed have all of the Tyrdonit servants at her disposal, all twelve of them including Ambrese and the queen's private chambermaid. It had been at Emries' command that she "get all the help she required to reconstruct a fitting representation of Tyrdon's splendor."

Hitomi suspected that always he gave into the Brat Princess so easily because he felt guilty over the loss of her mother. The king put a great majority of his moral stock in the value of family, and Hitomi knew that he felt that he had greatly diminished Demerit's chances of finding a husband because of his divorce from Dione.

"_How do you expect me to find a suitable husband looking like a common court juvenile? Tyrdon is a place of exceptional beauty and I refuse to be anything less than just that," _she had told Emries.

_Ugh, and that stupid word_, Hitomi thought with disgust as she plopped onto the stool in front of her new vanity mirror. Ever since Demerit's Lady-in-Waiting Gretchü n had called the court boys of Fanelia "juvenile," her mistress had become intent of convincing the world that _she'd _invented it. Now, everything was "juvenile." The servants who stopped to exchange morning greetings in the hall were juvenile. Hitomi and Rubious' playful banter was juvenile. The feral kittens in the garden were juvenile. Even the children in the market streets were too juvenile for Demerit's taste.

Hitomi picked up her ivory brush from the dresser and ran it through her hair with unnecessary aggression. The bridge between her eyes furrowed in aggravation.

The only thing juvenile in Fanelia was that wretched prince who had stared at her during the entirety of their welcome brunch. They had arrived to the capitol before noon thanks to a short cut. It was dumb luck really. The Riding Master Abbe Ju'lock had taken a wrong turn and cut through a remote forest pathway. They were trapped inside the carriages with the sound of tree branches scratching along the wooden frames for what seemed like an eternity. She wondered what it must have looked like to the locals who had seen an entire royal caravan emerge from the dense brush right outside the city gates.

Their initial meeting with the royal family had gone well for the most part. At first Hitomi could not take her eyes off of the exquisite plaster crests and paintings that hung from the walls of the private dining room. They were historical scenes of winged people, but she guessed the royal family told visitors that they were images taken from myths.

Emries and Gaou shook hands while Aunica and Vari embraced. The women's eyes sparkled with tears of joy. Deruca and Rohan shook hands, too, with Folken¾ that was where Hitomi's eyes stopped wondering. She sensed a crack or a wound in his aura, something she could not pinpoint but was unnerved by all the same. She made a mental note to ask her mother about it later.

Everyone said how beautiful Demerit had come to be and complimented her change of hair color, but Hitomi could not see why they were acting so normal. She would have been horrified! Demerit had changed clothes in the carriage from her already extravagant garb to an even more outlandish…costume! That was the only word that fit what she was wearing. She had a huge wig braided into her hair that was flat on top from being squished against the carriage roof. There was an entire toy bird's nest pinned to midway down it. She had changed from her earlier gown into a deep crimson ballroom skirt with a plunging neck line that showed off her bosoms. Hitomi couldn't help but raise and eyebrow when she saw Demerit's swelling breasts. Beautiful as she was, that was one area where Hitomi had her step-sister beaten hands down, but now that Great Brat's cup suddenly runeth over? The new beauty mark on her face wasn't the only thing fake on this girl.

As for the rest of the family, Flora and Fauna made King Gaou throw his head back with laughter when they began to finish each others sentences, something they did without ever realizing. Hitomi knew she would like him. Folken half-heartedly agreed to take Rohan and Rubious hunting before they returned to Tyrdon. Vari had seated Hitomi between him and an empty chair, which annoyed the princess to no end. She would much rather have been near her own blood. She would have given anything to trade Folken's reluctant conversations for even the tiniest bit of the talk going on between her mother and the queen.

The two looked as though they were in absolute paradise, bursting out loud into fits of giggles as they reminisced on their childhood days. _Where had they grown up? In a village together?_ Hitomi wondered. She had always assumed that Aunica had grown up at Viridian, but it would have been impossible for both the women to have lived there. Only one priestess was schooled at a time.

Hitomi sighed and put her elbow rather rudely on the table, resting her chin on her palm and blowing a stray lock of hair back into place. There was no one her she could talk to. Her father, Deruca, and Gaou were in a heated discussion about land borders, Flauna were always in a world of their own, Demerit had been wisely seated on the far end of her next to Flauna, and her brothers where across the table hatching a plan to sneak off after sundown.

Hitomi lifted her spoon from her porridge, drowning the crisp cinnamon stick under a swell of thick oats. She turned to her right to face Folken, the broken prince who stared absently out the massive window on the opposite side of the room. She didn't fear him, but the strange vibe of his aura made her cautious. What she had overheard in the small village meeting the previous day still chewed like a rat at the back of her mind. Seeing as he was one of her own kind and she was in desperate need of human contact, she felt no need for formality.

"What happened to your arm?" she was blunt. The metal prosthetic had drawn looks from all the children, but none had dared to ask yet.

He didn't look at her. "Didn't you hear? A dragon got me when I was fifteen."

She put both her elbows on the table and crossed her arms, tracing his face with her eyes from the same level as the porridge bowl. "Not even _you _sound like you believe that story."

His face turned sharply, his eyes meeting hers in a flash. She suddenly was lost in a sea of dark gray, drowning, salt water filling her mouth, her lungs. Her chest tightened. She felt his pain, his hurt, his confusion…his loneliness. She tried to scream out and forgot to breath. She was paralyzed. She was afraid.

Transfixed as she was by Folken's pained stare, a loud slam behind her made her head snap back. At the door to the chamber stood who she assumed was the absent Prince Van, breathless and panting as though he had outrun an opponent. The room was silent for a moment, and Hitomi's eyes stayed stuck on Van.

He was not at all the boy she'd imagined. She had pictured an arrogant, uppity, overdressed snob¾ same as most of the royal boys on Gaea. Before her stood the picture of near athletic perfection: His bare arms were well toned and tanned, an oddity for anyone of noble birth. She could tell that the chest heaving under the red tunic was well muscled and would become broader as he grew. The legs he stood on looked strong and unwavering beneath his brown khakis.

Hitomi felt her skin grow warmer at the thought of what was underneath…_Where did that come from?_ She looked back at his face. His eyes were covered by long locks of pitch-black hair. Van flipped it from his face and revealed the most beautiful brow eyes the princess had ever seen. The were as dark as fresh earth after a cool spring rain. All at once the two were locked in a staring contests, neither wanting or able to look away. Hitomi felt the flesh of her cheeks begin to warm with a coy blush as his gaze devoured the sight of her.

"Van," his mother's voice broke the spell. "Won't you have a seat beside Hitomi?" Vari made a gesture toward the empty seat on Hitomi's left. She turned back and forth from Emries to Aunica as she spoke. "I apologize for my son's delayed arrival. May we make proper introductions at a later time?"

The visiting king and queen agreed, and everyone returned to their previous business. From what she caught of Rubious and Rohan's conversation, there would been much need for exploring of the castle grounds and she intended to remind them that Rohan's spying partner should be someone who would knock over a ten foot statue in the dark. Rubious would just have to get over it.

Hitomi turned her head to her bowl of cold porridge, suddenly finding the brown slime to be absolutely fascinating. She watched Van from the corner of her eye as he mad e his way to her side, feeling the tense energy of his aura heighten as he approached. He seated himself and leaned forward. Hitomi first thought he was attempting to catch her eye but realized he was signaling Folken. She was less afraid to turn to the Broken Prince and saw Folken shrug at Van.

Unable to stifle her curiosity any longer, she turned to Van and saw the anger and hurt in his stare to Folken. _What's going on? _

Hitomi had little time to entertain the possible causes of the bad air between the brothers, though. She spent the remainder of the meal trying to avoid the hungry fixture of Van's eyes on her skin. She felt as though he were peeling away the layers of material from her own, rendering her naked under is gaze.

A distraction form the tense air finally came at the end of the hour when Demerit got a visit from a little friend. An tiny wig bug wriggled its way out of her immense tower of hair and fell into the crack between her constricted breasts! She sprang up from her seat and screamed like the victim of a bloody murder rather than a victim of that horrible outfit. As she struggled to pick the little creepy-crawly from her cleavage, soft sheets of tissue paper from her dress began to fill the air around her. Her maid finally ushered her out of the room. Ambrese, who was out picnicking in the garden at the time with the royal Tyrdion chef, Myrn, later told Hitomi that a huge flock of startled birds took flight suddenly while they where outside and knocked the skittish Myrn right off her feet.

And now Hitomi was here, having the gown refitted for her athletic physic. It would match Folken's suit. Demerit and Hitomi had been asked in their father's invitation to the ball celebrating Folken's return to escort the boys when they were formally announced in front of the court, and the couples customarily wore matching outfits. Demerit was supposed to accompany Folken, but she refused to even look at the gown now that it didn't "complement the change of hair tone" or something like that.

Emries, of course, hadn't thought to ask Hitomi's opinion and didn't even bother to inform her of her emergency fitting until a few minutes after they'd left the brunch with the Fanels. At least it had gotten Hitomi away from Prince Van and his staring problem.

There had been talk of changing Folken's suit to match a new one for Demerit, but clothes made for occasions such as this were no small matter. They were constructed by entire teams of dress makers who came up with themes for the ensembles, found rare fabrics, spent hours hand embroidering detailed pictures, and even paid jewelers to custom cut diamonds to sew into the fabric. In the end, it was simply much easier to switch girls, refit the white dress, and make another one for Demerit. They hadn't started on the one for Hitomi, anyway, so there would be no wasted fabric. They could start fresh and Demerit could give her own ideas to the tailors.

Hitomi walked back in front of the full length mirror and looked herself up and down. A dark cloud came over her mind as she saw herself in the dress that wasn't really meant for her. In it she would stand beside someone who didn't really know her in a spot that hadn't been intended for her during the processions that would honor something that she wasn't sure was right.

Her mind wandered again to a time in her childhood when Demerit was still crowned princess and she was still free. She couldn't have been more than seven at the time and Hitomi was dead set on becoming a famous actress. All the royal children were preparing a play for the winter solstice festival except for Demerit, who at fourteen felt that plays were silly children's game of which she wanted no part. The evening their little performance was to open for a small group of court children who'd gathered around their makeshift stage in the gardens, the king burst onto the scene with a weeping blond brat in tow. He was furious, demanding to know why Demerit had been refused a part in the play with her brothers and sisters. Flora and Fauna started to cry at the sound of their father's raised voice, but Deruca calmly explained that she had refused the part she was offered earlier in the week. Emries said that he didn't care and that Demerit would have a part now or none of the children would perform.

Hitomi remembered vividly what occurred next. She was the youngest of the children playing, Rubious being only two years old at the time, so they decided that she would have the most opportunities to perform later and gave _her _role to Demerit. It didn't make sense even to her now considering that she had the lead role in the story of the Sleeping Princess.

Needless to say, the play was ruined. Demerit's nurse maid read all the lines from off stage when the Brat Princess grew frustrated and spent the rest of the hour brushing her hair with a stage brush. It was soon after that Emries, for whatever reason, declared that Hitomi-- not Demerit-- would be crowned princess. Hitomi guessed that that when all the hostility between them started. She didn't remember much of her step-sister before then, so they probably left each other alone in earlier years.

Back in the mirror, Hitomi started when she a ripple in her reflection, as thought the glass were just water.

_Is this to be who or what I always am? A girl who takes Demerit's place when she changes her mind and wears Demerit's old thrown away hand-me-downs?_


	8. Sibling Rivalry Part II

OMG, readers, I'm so sorry I took so long with this one. I just wanted to get it right for you guys. This chapter is still not done, so I guess this is going to be a three part thing. It didn't help that Candy was gloating about how many reviews she'd gotten. I love her and all, but sometimes she can be a real biotch.

Anyway, thanks for being so patient. Let me know what you think about this one.

* * *

Back in the mirror, Hitomi started when she a ripple in her reflection, as thought the glass were just water.

_Is this to be who or what I always am? A girl who takes Demerit's place when she changes her mind and wears Demerit's old thrown away hand-me-downs?_

Something snapped in Hitomi just then. The soft quiver in her lips hardened and her eyes shone. She tilted her chin up and looked back at herself. _No, I am my own person with my own destiny. All of this is my right._

She stepped back to the grand bed and reached behind her gown, nimble fingers slipping the top twelve buttons from their hold. She did a little shimmy and wiggled out of her perfect dress, threw it on the perfect linens in a perfect mess, pulled back her perfect hair, put on the old trousers and tank shirt that were a perfect fit, opened the door with her perfectly manicured hands, and walked out into the hallway with perfectly embroidered tapestries.

She was going to find her brothers, get into to trouble, find a way to be late to the grand ball in three days, and not give a damn. After all, she was sure that the Brat Princess would be perfect enough for the both of them.

Van stood once again on the uncomfortable fitting stool in his chambers. Final alterations were being made to his suit for the royal presentation.

The noisy blur of people around him fell on deaf ears and he stared at the huge wooden door that led to the outside world.

_Hitomi is out there, and I could be with her. _

Van couldn't help but be a little worried about the impression he'd made on her. He'd been late to the welcome brunch, or whatever his mother called it, and ran into the dining room without thinking about how he might look to their guests. All attempts to catch his breath were rendered useless when he laid eyes on Hitomi. The sight of her knocked the air out of him.

She was more beautiful than even his dreams had guessed. Her face was like the sculpture of an ancient goddess at the temple alter. Every exquisite curve was perfectly soft, every limb exuded grace, her eyes captured him at first glance, ensnaring him with their exoticness. There was no doubt that they were truly connected by that thousands of years of history that their blood shared.

He know that his dumbstruck reaction had put her off, but he couldn't help but be in awe of her absolute perfection. He could only imagine what she felt having him stare at her without speaking a single word. He must have looked crazy. The had avoided him for the rest of the meal, showering her attention on his undeserving brother.

He had to find her now and clear things up before she got the wrong idea about him.

_Yeah, Van, like your smooth performance earlier didn't already take care of that_, he though to himself as a seamstress pricked him with a rusted pin. _I'm wasting time here._

"I think we're done here, Veera," Van said to the plump dressmaker. He hopped off the stool and shed his red frilly jacket. Thick stitches were layered over the hand sewn embroidery to mark the places where alterations were needed. It would fetch a hefty price at the market for a servant who managed to get his hands on it after the ball. It was a common practice for lower servants to sell royal clothing for themselves if the _Don del Chambre_, who often received a cut of the profit, gave permission to do so.

"But your majesty, ze fitting iz not yet dun. Your muh-zer vil neva forgive me if her design as flaws," Veer said while waddling after the prince as he made his way to the door.

"Just tell her that your mannequin was uncooperative," he said without looking back.

"But your ighness--"

Van cut her off and turned to face her, his body already halfway outside. "Veera, your hands are magic. I have complete faith in you."

The door clicked shut gently on a blushing Veera, and Van couldn't help but smile.

He stopped mid-step before he could go any further, however, as he saw a familiar head of soft brown hair turn into the next corridor.

_Hitomi._

Van's feet raced to keep up with the beating of his heart, but at the turn of the corner he was met only by the breaking of the light through the stained-glass window.

Hitomi crisscrossed through corridors and hallways, following the strengthening aura of her brothers to guide her to their room.

_Was this place built for royalty or the Minotaur? _

As Hitomi rounded what she hoped was the last passage to get to her brothers, Folkan appeared in front of her. She started. _What is he doing just standing here in the middle of the hall?_ She looked around them. The corridor now extended endlessly to her front and behind. There were no doors in the dark hall. There were no other ways out

_What's happening? _Hitomi tried to swallow her growing fear curtsied while struggling to slow the nervous beating of her heat. "Your majesty, I did not see you--"

She was cut off by the cold pressure of something metal around her throat. Her hands reached to free her neck from the iron grasp of Folken's prosthetic arm, but it was useless. He held her fast.

Slowly he brought her up until the tips of her toes hovered just above the embroidered carpet beneath her feet.

As she looked into his dead eyes, she felt fear swell in the pit of her stomach like a monster ready to burst from the depth of her belly. Her lungs ached for breath, her neck felt like it was reaching its breaking point.

Just as Hitomi felt her vision spot over, her chest heaved and breath filled her. She fell into her stomach and gasped, taking in all the air around her as quickly as she could. She coughed, her throat raw from the pressure of Folken's hard grasp.

Up now on her knees, she supported hr upper body with her arms, then pushed up and stood. She was alone again.

Her voice broke as she spoke aloud to comfort herself. "A vision…?"

Hitomi sat cross-legged on a crimson down quilt in Rohan's bedroom. He was reading from the _P'liar_, an ancient holy book, while she and Rubious leafed through pages upon pages of research he had done on prophecies. He had grown increasingly disturbed about what he called the "questionable circumstances surrounding His Majesties Folken's miraculous return."

He had come across a text that he was not able to fully understand because of the language. It mentioned the return of a great warrior to defeat the resurrected Prince of the Sky. There had been no real proof that either the Warrior of the Enemy had returned, but Rohan was vigilant in his studies nonetheless. Unfortunately, the book was written in a jumble of ceremonial jargon that was uncommon those who were not monks or holy men. Rohan had had some schooling in the dead language of Varidian, but translation was still difficult.

As the Chosen People, Rubious and Hitomi said that the Enemy could be any of them or even Van, but Rohan had insisted that Folken was the most obvious candidate.

"Think about it. No, Hitomi, don't make that face, just really think about it for a second," he said as his sister rolled her eyes. "Folken disappears without a trace¾ not even a shred of evidence as to what happened to him¾ and he just pops up out of no where, not only when is brother is about to be formally christened crowned prince, but at the exact time this passage foresees the return of the Great Warrior of Tyrdon. Doesn't that seem like just a little more than coincidence to you?"

Hitomi threw herself backward onto the soft cushion, letting the papers in her hands rest on her stomach. "So he's the Great Warrior?" she asked more to the ceiling than to her brother.

"No, I think he's the cause of the Warrior's return. He's the threat." Rohan walked to the opposite edge of the bed near Rubious, who was struggling to read the hieroglyphics of the small prayer book in his hands.

Hitomi turned onto her stomach to face him. "Look," she said with a sigh, "I really don't think he's any kind of threat. He's quiet, reserved, a bookworm. He spends all his time alone in the library. Are you honestly going to tell me that that…_nerd_ is capable of laying siege to all of Gaea?"

"No. And yes. He's intelligent but isolated. He has a background in either weapons or mechanics by the look of that prosthetic arm. You saw him at the table. He was a tense mess, obviously frustrated and ready to explode. He's got all the characteristics of a serial killer, so what's not to say he'd be capable of genocide?"

All of this was hitting too close to home for the princess. She couldn't help but think back to her mother's vision of Rubious as a great warrior, the Warrior. _Could we really be in the End Times?_ The thought made her stomach turn.

"It just means he's traumatized."

"No, he's not. He's planning something."

"Gaou and Vari don't seem to think so."

"Gaou and Vari think they've got their precious long lost son back. Vari is especially blind. She wants to make him into a saint, for gods' sakes. "

"Maybe he deserves it."

"What about the gypsies?" Rubious looked up from his book at Hitomi. The elders had no idea he'd been listening.

"What about them?" She sat up as Rohan took a seat next to their little brother.

"Didn't Folken say he'd lived with them? He said they were all dead, so how could they have been in Tyrdon only a few days ago? Isn't that what father was discussing at the meeting back in the village?" Rubious looked back and fourth at his siblings, searching for a sign he'd been useful.

Rohan rubbed the light shadow of stubble on his chin. "Salamanca sure as Hell wasn't dead."

WHACK!

He let the pillow fall on the floor.

"_Shloomerst_!" Hitomi yelled out a very explicit oath in her native tongue.

Rohan had already recovered from the sneak attack. "Can we please get back to the issue at hand?" Hitomi settled down again and gave him her eyes. "Thank you. Now, I think what Rubious just brought up is solid proof that Folken is a fraud. The Reisender tribe was in fact attacked, but they claim that none of their clansmen ever housed a Fanelian refugee."

"Come on, Rohan, do you actually think that anyone in Fanelia is going to take the word of gypsies over their national hero?" Hitomi sat back up and slid off the bead, heading for the door.

"Where are you going, Tootie?" Rubious called after her.

Hitomi cringed at her childhood nickname. She turned slowly back on her heel. "Look," she said while crossing her arms defensively against her body, "I'm done with Rohan's conspiracy theories. I just wanted to have a little fun before the Royal Façade starts and we're separated until we go home, but instead I got stuck here searching through those smelly yellow papers like some kind of scribe apprentice." Her hands reiterated her every word with aggressive jabs at the air. "The bottom line is, you've go no proof. If you bring this up to anyone, there are a million ways they could explain away why the Reisenders are still here when Folken said they were blown to oblivion by an Invisible Enemy. The king and queen already have, so unless you can get some kind of confession, good luck to you."

She turned back to the door, recognizing the perfect time to make a dramatic entrance.

"What about your premonition, Hitomi? You walked in here white as a ghost. Don't tell me that everything I'm working on is going to lead to a dead end if you know something that could help Tyrdon stop this before it starts."

Hitomi didn't stop, though, and answered with the thud of the closing door.

Hitomi let the door's weight do the slamming for her. She crossed her arms tightly in an effort to keep her heart from beating out of chest. _All I wanted was a little distraction from all this drama. Why did it have to end up like this?_

She rushed blindly down the corridor, the lush embroidered tapestries becoming a blur of colors and human forms through her swelling tears. She let her arms fall from her chest and pumped them at her sides as she sprinted in her randomly selected direction.

She'd had a vision, that was for sure, but she wasn't ready to deal with it yet. Folken's return, his undeniably suspicious behavior, her premonition, the verse in the Holy Text, what did it all mean? What did it mean to Tyrdon? Couldn't they all just leave this problem behind in Fanelia and return home? It was all to much to handle at one time.

The next thing she knew, Hitomi was staring up at the stone ceiling of an outside pavilion. She had run into someone or something and was now lying in front of the garden entrance.

As she struggled up, she saw the victim of her dramatic rampage brush himself off.

"I'm so sorry," she felt the blood rushing to her face, "I should have been watching where I--"

She stopped short when she looked into the face of the boy who was offering her an outstretched hand.


	9. Desire and Delusion

AN UPDATE! Hello everyone! Let me apologize for my absence. I promised myself I wouldn't be like the other writers who went MIA once they started college, but I didn't realize how bad it would be. The important thing is that this update is finally here. I started writing and it is now about 5:00 AM. I couldn't let myself stop for fear of once again letting this chapter die, just like all my other attempts to write. I also apologize for the digressive quality toward the end of this chapter. Here's "Desire and Delusion." (And please review! I need to know who's still here!)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hitomi tried to whisper thanks to the boy offering his outstretched hand, but the words were caught in her throat. She could only stare up at Van, captured by the intensity of the sight of him. The lowering sun was directly behind him, casting an angelic glow about his muscular frame. His eyes reflected the light ever so slightly, bringing a sparkle to the flawless clarity of his concerned gaze.

_He's so beautiful. _

He reached toward her slowly with his other and hand brought it slowly under her chin…

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth closed?"

Hitomi cheeks flushed as she slapped his hands away and pulled herself to her feet. _He just had to ruin the moment, didn't he?_

She stood at her full height, only about three or so inches shorter than Van, and looked him dead in the eye.

"You're one to talk about manners. I'm not the one who barged into the dining hall like a stampede of wild horses," Hitomi shot as she tried to maintain her most fierce Amazonian stance, crossing her arms defensively.

Van breathed in, forgetting Hitomi momentarily as he remembered exactly why he'd been late to the initial greeting of the Kanzaki family. Folken had roused him from a very pleasant dream to tell him that Gaou had ordered his sons to assist the horse master in clearing the animals in the stables out to the pasture in order to prepare for the coming guests. Royal litters traveling to celebrations of this magnitude usually brought not only their family and servants but also distinguished courtiers, doctors, cooks, minstrels, and all sorts of animals in an attempt to impress hosts and other guests. That meant that the housing for people and beasts were usually spread thin, and all the extra space possible had to be created. Van had not seen Folken outside, however, and found out only after he had made his way back to his bedchamber to bathe and change that the Kanzaki family had arrived.

"Ju're grace, zee royal guests a' 'ere! Eweryone is vating for ju!" Vera rushed frantically through the doors as he stood naked knee-deep in the water of the bathing chamber that adjoined his room.

Van thought she would have been more embarrasses, as he certainly was, but Vera had more important things on her mind than the full view she got of the prince's rear.

"Zee guests!" she cried again, sending Van tumbling into the soapy tub. He shot his head back to the surface, spitting out water while clearing foam from his eyes. He watched the hysterical maid rush back to his room, never ceasing her hurried gibberish.

"Vera, what are you talking about?!" he shouted to her as he scrubbed caked mud from his legs.

She popped her head back into the bathing chamber, causing Van to quickly lower himself deeper into the cover of the bubbles. "Zee Kanzaki caravan ees 'ere! Zhey all vait for ju in zee dining 'all." She was gone again when Van blinked, back into his room.

It took a minute for what she said to sink in. _Hitomi! She's here! _Now he was as frantic as the crazy lady in the other room, scrubbing ferociously at the dirt and grime. He grabbed a towel rushed into his bed chamber only to nearly be knocked over by a shirt Vera threw in his face.

"Zere ees no time to dress properly. Ju must go een vhat you normally vere. Go, go, go!"

Van hurriedly hopped on one foot while trying to put on his second shoe, grateful that he had been able to slow Vera's pace enough to actually cover the most vital parts. From there he burst into the dining hall, and all eyes had been on him. The only person he saw, though, was the heavenly apparition from his dreams sitting before him.

He look Hitomi over a hundred times in those seconds, unable to get enough of the sight of her. She was exactly as he had seen in his sleep except for the fact that the both of them had been doing things neither would attempt in a room full of relatives. He'd forced himself to look away then, knowing how utterly foolish he must have seemed just them.

Van sat himself down next to his _kylamora_, casting a confused glance at his brother who was obviously avoiding his gaze. _What's going on here ? _He wasn't sure if Folken had gotten the message, but he was soon distracted by the thousand feelings that assaulted his senses once he realized exactly how close he was to Hitomi.

He had gone over in his head a million times how their first meeting would play out. He would be dress for once the way his mother begged him to, decked out in the fine dress clothes reserved for stuffy formals. Hitomi would step gracefully from her carriage and float toward him. He would bow and kiss her hand, coaxing a shy smile from her perfect lips. Then he would offer to show her the castle, a privet tour, just the two of them getting to know everything about each other before the sun set. It was an undeniably fluffy fantasy, but it was better than what had actually happened: him gawking uncontrollably until he had made her so uncomfortable that she asked to be excused. Not ever her overly made-up sister's incident with a wig bug had distracted Van long enough to give her skin a break from his heated stare.

_Now I have a chance to redeem myself, and I'm insulting her? Real smooth…_

"Van?" Hitomi had noticed the change of his face from mostly relaxed to tense. _He was out of it for a minute. _

Van gathered himself. _I've got to make it work this time. _

"Umm…look, Hitomi," he started shakily. It was not the time to keep up defenses. "I know I didn't exactly make the best first impression, and you probably think I'm a fool, but I'd like to start over. Please?"

The princess felt herself melt at his words, surprised at his forwardness but unable to withstand the effects of his sincerity. She let her arms loosen a bit and her eyes softened. _I hardly know him--no, I don't know him at all. Why is he trying so hard to reach out to me? And why can't I stop myself from hanging on every word coming out of his mouth?_

Her attention quickly darted from his whole face to just his mouth. Those perfectly shaped curves looked so soft…

_What the hell?! Get it together, Hitomi!_

"Alright," she sighed, trying to front defeat. "I guess we could give it another go 'round."

Van did metal summersaults.

"But," she put one hand on her hip and pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Van, a remnant of her fitting earlier that day. "Nothing weird, alright?" She wagged her index finger in mock condescendence. The grin breaking through gave her away.

Van couldn't help but flash a full brilliant smile, confidant that he had a new chance to make a place in her heart. He offered her his arm, and the pair headed in the direction of the gardens.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And then she said, 'Why don't you let her try it without the book on her head?'"

Hitomi and Van laughed without reserve as she recounted one of the many stories of Demerit's stupid one-liners. This particular incident occurred during an etiquette lesson in which Flora had been having difficulty keeping her posture straight while walking down the stairs at the entrance of the grand ballroom in the Tyrdon royal palace.

They had walked all though the gardens just talking. Sometimes the topic was serious, sometimes hilarious, sometimes random, or even sometimes tragic, but always the conversation flowed freely and with uncanny ease. He talked about his training with Balgus, the surprise birthday party he had for his mother six months early when he was four and how surprised she was to be served a real mud pie, what life was like after Folken disappeared, and how glad he was that Vari was getting back to normal. He hadn't actually talked about his brother directly, and Hitomi decided not to pursue it despite her need to satisfy her growing curiosity about the broken prince.

She told him about the play Demerit ruined when she was a child, spending whole summers in the privet gardens with Aunica, sneaking out to attend music festivals in the village, and playing dress up with the royal jewels when she was about seven years old. She decided leave out the part about her mother being a former priestess and her own supposed magic abilities. _No sense in making think I'm a freak just as we're getting to know each other_.

"Are you sure no one will miss us? I'd hate to think there's a search party out there turning over tables to find us," Hitomi said as she dodged a low lying branch. They were headed further into the neighboring woods, and the trees were getting denser by the minute.

"Trust me. Ever since Folken's return, I've been practically invisible. And it sounds like you're in the same situation with Demerit. No one will be looking for us," he turned from his position ahead of her to help her over a log that blocked their path.

She took his hand as she made a wide step, grateful for an excuse to touch him again. They had been "bumping" into each other and running into minor "obstacles" during the entirety of the hike. _We both know what's going on_, she though, _so why hide it?_

Hitomi longed to do something daring like one of the heroines in her mother's stories. Maybe she just turn him around and pull him into a long, passionate kiss. Only one problem with that: she'd never kissed anyone before. Maybe she would run off suddenly, daring his to give chase and letting him catch her. That might have gone well if not for the fact that she'd probably get lost before he knew it, and rescue parties did not make for a romantic moment. Besides, every time they locked eyes or grazed each other's skin, she lost all coherent thought.

"Are we almost there?" She tried not to sound whiney, but the anticipation was killing her.

They'd been standing near sculpture called "Lovers in Bloom" when she'd told him about her first unrequited love. She had been ten and he was forty-six, a bookkeeper in the royal library. His name had been Ginglou, and he let the lovesick princess follow him around the piles of books so long as she was quite and attentive. He tutored her during their short time together, exposing Hitomi to texts on language, government, poetry, and mythology, which was her hands down favorite. He was always careful to keep the teacher-pupil separation, though, explaining that she would one day meet a man who would match her on every level. Ginglou, careful as he was to stay in his proper place, he was "promoted" to Master Historian of the University at Crux-Shou when a nurse maid walked in on Hitomi playing wedding with dolls dressed like herself and the object of her admiration.

She must have let her emotions get the better of her while telling the story, trying her best to hide the swelling tears at the painful memory of watching Ginglou wave goodbye as his carriage passed through the castle gates for the last time.

Van had embraced her, tenderly taking her into his arms but pulling back all too soon. "I want to show you something. Something I've never shown anyone before."

"It's just past this grove," he assured her. "Don't worry, it'll be worth it once you see it."

They finally emerged from a thick collection of slender trees into a cool clearing, and what Hitomi saw stole her breath. Before them was a lake, it's surface perfectly undisturbed as a glass mirror. They approached the shore, and she could see every pebble at the bottom, each shimmering like a jewel. The grass all around was a soft carpet of green and pure untouched earth. Beyond the horizon the Mystic Moon and its sister hung close together. It was a utopia.

"This is where my parents first met, where my mother was destined to find the one she was meant for."

Hitomi's pulse quickened and her stomach knotted. Whether it was a good or bad sign, she could not tell. She stood still as Van stepped to the edge of the water, the ripple from his movement sending smooth waves across the lake's surface.

He turned around to face Hitomi, a moonlight halo forming a crown around his head. "I always hoped I would have the same luck." Van stretched out his hand, beckoning her to move to his side.

She took his hand and faced him in the water. As a broken sigh escaped his lips, her heart stopped, anticipating what was about to come.

"Van, this is all so fast. I'm not sure---"

"I know Hitomi, it _is_ fast, but it's right. I've dreamt about you, and each the night the dreams get more vivid. They're us, our life together. I know you think we just met, but we've been destined for each other our whole lives. There's something else I want to show you," he put a hand on either side of her face and pulled her in to place a kiss on her forehead, "kylamora…"

Hitomi's eyes went wide. _It was him all along…_

Van took a few steps back into the water until it was half way up his calves. He slipped his shirt over his head and watched Hitomi breath in all at once, barely catching the tunic he tossed to her. He smiled to himself as he concentrated, focusing his energy in one place.

Abruptly he transformed, the other half of his being bursting from his back. The flawless wings stretched out well beyond his arm span, leaving a flurry of soft white feathers in their wake.

Hitomi ran without thinking, and Van caught her in his arms, his laughter a mixture of joy and relief.

He rested his forehead on her's, both smiling deeply while Hitomi struggled to keep her tears in check.

"My mother knew this would happen. Only I think in her version of things, I was strapped down to a chair while we were introduced."

Van couldn't help but laugh again, giddy with elation. "You're a funny girl, you know that?"

She smiled back, still looking for a sign of doubt in his eyes, a hint of mockery. "Van, before this goes any further, I have to tell you something."

He tried to sober up, but the grin was stuck on his face. "What's that?"

She sucked in a breath, not sure if she should tell… "I name stars."

Van cocked an eyebrow as he looked at her, waiting for more.

"And I play with glamour charms. And sometimes when the fireplace goes out I---"

He made a note to ask about the fireplace later, but only if they ever got around to ending their first kiss.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aunica rose from her kneeling prayer position, content with what she had learned. Hitomi was safe with Van. There was no need to worry.

The queen gathered her candles, letting the smoke linger as she extinguished each flame. _I knew this would happen_, she thought with satisfaction. _I guess it's never too early to pick out a fabric for the dress._

She gathered everything into a cloth bag and prepared to exit the chapel when she felt an aura pass through the room. Her face snapped to the right as the light from the torch fizzled out. _There's no wind tonight…_

Aunica began focusing a collection of energy in her palm, ready to lash out at the first sign of an attack. She dropped the back and crouched slightly, her fighting stance perfected since the age of fourteen. As shadow stirred to her left, barely noticeable in the dim light of the moons.

"Come out, stranger. There is no hiding from me."

The enemy struck out from the darkness, giving Aunica a glimpse of a blade before she disappeared, leaving the silver haired assailant alone and confused in the house of worship.


End file.
